New York Mets: T.J. Rivera’s best and worst case scenarios for 2019

T.J. Rivera may have a tough time finding playing time with the New York Mets in 2019. Let’s examine some of the best and worst possible outcomes for him this year.

T.J. Rivera‘s rise to the big leagues and onto the New York Mets was not a conventional one. The Bronx New York native graduated Lehman high school in 2006 and was named as a top 100 high school prospect in the U.S. to look out for just a year before by some amateur scouts.

After high school, Rivera traveled down to Alabama and played for ex-Met catcher, Mackey Sasser, at Wallace Community College for a few years.

Rivera hit well enough down there to earn a scholarship to nearby Troy University. At Troy, Rivera batted over .300 in his two seasons with the Trojans and helped them reach the College World Series Regionals in 2011.

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Just a few days after his last game at Troy University, Rivera hoped to hear his name called at Major League baseball’s Amatuer Draft. Over 1500 players were selected in that 2011 draft but unfortunately he wasn’t one of them. Rivera’s coach at Wallace junior college, Mackey Sasser, was shocked.

“I can’t believe no one drafted T.J., you can’t go wrong with him,” recalls Sasser when speaking to a former Mets scout who asked for information on the contact hitter back in 2011.

“He’s a blue-collar player who can really hit,” praised the former Mets backstop about his pupil.

Rivera was eventually signed as a non-drafted free agent by the New York Mets a few weeks later.

From 2011 to 2015, the Bronx native rose steadily through the Mets minor league system. He proved that he could hit for average and contact at every level just as he did in college. Rivera finished with a lifetime .318 batting average in all three minor league levels combined. He batted .306 in Triple-A through 54 games in 2015 before making his Major League debut in 2016. His only knock was he didn’t walk a lot nor did he hit much for power.

Late in 2016, while having a stellar career year for the Las Vegas-51’s Triple-A team yet again, Rivera got the call up to play for the Mets. He was hitting a career-best .353 with 11 home runs and 85 RBI before he got the promotion to the big show.

In 33 games with the Mets in 2016, Rivera continued his success at the plate batting .333 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI’s in a little over 100 at-bats. In 2017, Rivera played in 73 Major League games for the Mets and posted a .290/.330/.430 line along with hitting 13 doubles.  He also showed that he could be a Swiss Army knife in the field by playing an adequate 2B, 3B or first base when needed to.

Just as things were looking up for the Mets new utility grinder- devastation hit. Rivera suffered a partially torn UCL in his right elbow at the end of July. He was forced to get Tommy John surgery in September of 2017 and has not seen the major league baseball diamond since.

Rivera only managed to get in six games towards the end of 2018 with the Mets Triple-A team and hit a paltry .182 in the process. This, however, is a small sample size and after 15 months off, shouldn’t be factored in too much from what we can expect from him in 2019.

I believe he used those games just to get acclimated with everyday motions of playing the game again. If this is the case, what can we expect from the 30-year-old utility infielder going into 2019?

Best Case Scenario

All throughout his college career at Wallace Junior College and Troy, as well as through his minor league days with the Mets, Rivera has shown an ability to work hard and grind. Whatever setbacks or doubt that were cast upon him by amateur scouts or minor league coaches in the past, Rivera overcame with hard work and perseverance.

His head coach at Wallace Community College, Mackey Sasser, noted how Rivera always had the ability to recognize his own flaws and then work hard to improve upon those weaknesses until they became strengths.

I believe it’s this type of fortitude and character that will allow him to flourish and regain his productive hitting form heading into 2019. That hunger to always give it your all and prove everyone who doubted you wrong may be the catalyst that Rivera needs to have a break out year.

A line of  .320/.350/.460 is not out of the realm of possibility for 2019. I wouldn’t be shocked one bit if he put up 12 to 15 home runs with 20 doubles and 60 or more RBI if given enough plate appearances. With Wilmer Flores no longer on the team and the first and third baseman positions still not 100% set in stone to be claimed by anyone on the roster, Rivera could come in and absolutely earn a starting infield position during Spring Training.

Would you be surprised if Rivera batted .400 in Spring Training, lead the team in RBI and won the everyday starting first base or third base job down in Port St. Lucie given what he has done in past seasons at the plate? With promising depth in Peter Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Jed Lowrie already ahead of Rivera on the depth chart, it might be hard, but not impossible.

And even if he doesn’t win a starting job, Rivera can still get over 300 at-bats throughout the course of the year filling in on the infield should one of the Mets starters get injured or begin struggling. After all, Robinson Cano, at his advanced age, or McNeil, with his lack of experience, are no proven commodities to hold down their positions full-time for a whole year.

The injury bug is always looming. Alonso may also struggle his rookie year and stay down in AAA a full year longer. Amed Rosario may also regress and not be the promising young shortstop we all thought he may be.

Now one could use that same logic to argue that at 30 years of age, can we really expect a break out year from a guy like Rivera this late in his baseball career?

My answer is yes.

Just look no further than how Daniel Murphy transformed into one of the most feared hitters in baseball when he turned 30 and beyond. We all saw the signs with Murphy before that, but due to one set back or another, he was never able to truly put it all together until his postseason home run barrage with the Mets and his later seasons with the Washington Nationals. I can see a similar trajectory or path for Rivera playing out as well.

Is it likely? I’d say no. But would you be shocked if it happened? Probably not.