NY Mets Outfielder Battle Royale: Jay Bruce versus Jeromy Burnitz

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NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 09: Jay Bruce #19 of the New York Mets bats in the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Citi Field on August 9, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Rangers defeated the Mets 5-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

This is what Jim Ross might call a slobberknocker. While perusing the internet trying to stumble upon anything interesting about past New York Mets teams, I happened upon Jeromy Burnitz. What’s so interesting about Burnitz? He reminds me of a much more recent member of the Mets, Jay Bruce.

These two have a lot in common. They share initials, each had two stints with the Mets, and were traded away to the Cleveland Indians after their first stint.

Certainly not identical careers, their style of play had many similarities. They were home run-hitting corner outfielders that didn’t exactly meet expectations. Today, I’m curious to see which J.B. was the better Mets player.

The case for Jay Bruce as the better Mets player

In parts of three seasons with the Mets, Bruce accumulated a 1.8 WAR for the team. He was slightly above 0 down the stretch in 2016 when first acquired and an amazing contributor in 2017 when he had a 2.5 WAR before he was traded. Upon his return, he was a much more negative factor in the lineup.

WAR doesn’t tell the full story of Bruce’s time in New York. For this, let’s look at some other numbers.

Bruce fell just shy of 1,000 plate appearances with the Mets at 996. The slash line during his time in orange and blue ended at .237/.312/.442. His 2017 brilliance which included 29 home runs in only 448 plate appearances overshadows anything he accomplished in 2016 and 2018—two very poor seasons on the back of his baseball card.

By the time he was traded, Bruce had 46 home runs and 131 RBI for the Mets.

Bruce was a good fit for the Mets when first acquired. However, upon his return in 2018, it didn’t feel right. I have poorer memories of him with the club because of how recent it was. Is this recency bias or was he a more productive player for the Mets than Burnitz?

ANAHEIM, CA – JUNE 13: Jeromy Burnitz #20 of the New York Mets celebrates his two-run home run in the sixth inning against the Anaheim Angels June 13, 2003 at Edison Field in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

The case for Jeromy Burnitz as the better Mets player

Oh, my! This is a good matchup. Without even realizing it, I already see more similarities on the stat sheet between these two left-handed sluggers.

Burnitz spent parts of four seasons with the Mets and ended up with 1,283 plate appearances. However, he had only a 1.7 WAR, falling 0.1 shy of Bruce. This includes the two years he spent with the club in 1993 and 1994 as well as his return in 2002 and 2003 when he was more established.

The similarities come in between the two when I look at the slash line. Burnitz hit .237/.329/.432 for the Mets. His OBP was higher than Bruce, however, his slugging percentage was a little lower. He was also traded mid-year away from New York (2003) during his best year with the club. He had 18 home runs at the time, helping him to hit a total of 53. He also drove in more runs than Bruce, but not many more. His Mets stat sheet has 152 ribbies on it.

Burnitz had the benefit of more playing time with the Mets. This doesn’t necessarily make him the better player. This only means he had more plate appearances and time to compile some statistics. Bruce, who spent some significant time injured in 2018, lost his chance to keep up.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 29: Jay Bruce #19 of the New York Mets strikes out in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on September 29, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Marlins 1-0 in 13 innings. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Who wins this Mets battle royale?

This is a very tight race. I look at other numbers and see, yet again, how close things are. Bruce had a 103 OPS+ and Burnitz was at 102. Bruce’s OPS was .754 which fell shy of Burnitz’s .761. Both totals are so close. I can’t pick a winner!

There is no single number I can look at and break any tie. Is there a place I can find their charitable donations?

Maybe we give Burnitz an edge because he played some center field for the Mets. There’s value there. I wouldn’t trust Bruce moving into right-center let alone actually play center field.

What about giving Bruce the nod because he actually played in a playoff game? That’s the ultimate goal of every athlete—to win it all. Bruce did come closer. Burnitz was on some very bad Mets teams. Maybe he can pick up some bonus points for reminding me of Woody Harrelson?

I’ll call this one a draw between this pair of Texas high school kids (another similarity) that would one day go on to play for the Amazins. I think it’s fair. In fact, on each player’s Baseball-Reference page where they list similar batters, with a score of 954.3, these two are a match better than anyone in the history of the game.

Next. Underrated Mets players on the World Series teams

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Since this is Bruce and Burnitz we’re talking about, let’s call it a double-disqualification. Each was more of a disappointment than anything else.

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The case for Jay Bruce as the better Mets player

The case for Jeromy Burnitz as the better Mets player

Who wins this Mets battle royale?

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