Who Are These 2009 Mets?

In a season where 5 of the 8 position players in the Mets’ opening day lineup have missed considerable time and the Mets have used 69 distinct batting orders in 74 games, its easy to lose track of exactly what kind of production they’re getting out of each position. 

Previously on this blog, we compared David Wright’s 2009 stats to some baseball players from the past.

Today, I thought it would be interesting to look at the production that the Mets are getting from each position on the field (in most cases, this is a sum of many different players’ production) and compare it to an individual season posted by Met from the past who played that position.  If that explanation didn’t make sense, it should in a moment when I present the results of my exhaustive research below:

• First Base
  • Games Started: Delgado 25, Murphy 23, Tatis 20, Others 6
  • Stats: OBP .348, SLG .426
  • Similar To: 1992 Eddie Murray – OBP .336, SLG .423
• Second Base
  • Games Started: Castillo 61, Cora 9, Others 4
  • Stats: OBP .369, SLG .318
  • Similar To: 1992 Willie Randolph – OBP .352, SLG .318
• Shortstop
  • Games Started: Reyes 35, Cora 24, Martinez 9, Valdez 6
  • Stats: OBP .319, SLG .334
  • Similar To: 1980 Frank Tavares – OBP .308, SLG .327
• Third Base
  • Games Started: Wright 73, Tatis 1
  • Stats: OBP .427, SLG .480
  • Similar To: There is no great comparison among third basemen.  Best comparison is 1999 John Olerud – OBP .427, SLG .463
• Left Field
  • Games Started: Murphy 27, Sheffield 23, Martinez 10, Others 14
  • Stats: OBP .357, SLG .422
  • Similar To: 1995 Carl Everett – OBP .352, SLG .436
• Center Field
  • Games Started: Beltran 59, Reed 7, Others 8
  • Stats: OBP .409, SLG .500
  • Similar To: 1969 Cleon Jones – OBP .422, SLG .482
• Right Field
  • Games Started: Church 47, Sheffield 13, Martinez 6, Others 8
  • Stats: OBP .333, SLG .353
  • Similar To: 1977 Lee Mazzilli – OBP .339 SLG .340
• Catcher
  • Games Started: Santos 34, Castro 21, Schneider 19
  • Stats: OBP .314, SLG .438
  • Similar To: 1986 Gary Carter – OBP .337, SLG .439

So, here they are, the 2009 New York Mets:

• SS – 1980 Frank Taveras
• 2B – 1992 Willie Randolph
• 3B – 1999 John Olerud
• CF – 1969 Cleon Jones
• LF – 1995 Carl Everett
• 1B – 1993 Eddie Murray
• RF – 1977 Lee Mazzilli
• C – 1986 Gary Carter

And a few closing thoughts:

• This was fun and maybe puts some things in perspective.
• The right side of the Mets infield is performing like the right side of the 1992 Mets’ infield.  This is not good.
• The Mets should bat their catcher (i.e. Omir Santos) higher in the batting order. I guess I was wrong about the Mets’ catching situation.
• The Mets shortstop (i.e. Alex Cora at the moment) should not be batting leadoff.
• Don’t let the Lee Mazzilli comparison fool you.  The Mets are not getting good production in right field.  1977 was Mazzilli’s rookie year and he hit for virtually no power (6HR) that season.