PIITBlog by JD

  What should we think about Darin Ruf?- PIITB By JD     I decided to take a break from my top 10 rankings to address someone I know is on the mind of Mets fans. Darin Ruf.   Darin Ruf is on the top of Mets fan's least favorite players right now. We all know how last season went. He was nothing short of horrific in his 29 games. Ruf hit .152 with a .413 ops. He had 10 hits. 0 home runs. That says it all.    What is interesting and somewhat annoying is his career points to great numbers vs lefties. He was supposed to be the answer as the RH DH. His career ops against lefties is .891. That drop-off is, well, significant to say the least. We all know mid-season trades are hard on players. Especially when being traded to NY. In an interview today, Ruf said he struggled with the mid-season switch. To be honest, he did not sound overly confident in handling the NY media daily.    To me, Ruf is the guy fans blame for everything. I do not believe he will ...

    JD’s Top 10 Centerfielders- PIITB by JD   Welcome back to JD’s top 10 rankings position by position. Coming up next is Center field. We are in a great era of athletic and talented players. Some of the game’s top players are centerfielders and I am happy to give you my rankings of them. Let’s get started.   1.       Mike Trout- How could it be anyone else? The best player of this generation and already one of the best all time at just age 31. Mike Trout is truly unbelievable. He’s a Hall of Famer already. He has become quite injury prone in the last few seasons. He played just 119 games last season and yet posted a 6fwar with 40 homers and a 176 wrc+. 2.       Byron Buxton- This guy has all the talent in the world, but he cannot stay on the field either. In just 92 games last season he posted 28 homers with a 136 wrc+ all while amassing 4 fwar. If he manages to stay on the field, he is as dangerous as anyone. ...

  JDs Top 10 Shortstops   This is the next most controversial position I could do. There is a ton of talent at shortstop right now. Lots of power and some great defense as well. We are truly in the golden age of shortstops. Let’s get going.    1.       Carlos Correa- Yes. The infamous “former” Met is the best Shortstop in baseball.  Correa is the best hitter among the shortstops for sure. With 25+ home run pop, career .836 OPS, and finished with a 140 wrc+ last year. If you want to play the WAR game, he only had 4.4 last year which was definitely a down year. If healthy Correa will have at least 5.5 fWAR this season. Correa is elite on both sides of the ball and is going to continue to take his game to new heights if his leg allows.  2.       Francisco Lindor- Lindor finished 1 ST  in WAR among shortstops last season with a sparkling 6.8 fwar. His gold glove defense is accompanied by a very sold (a...

  JD’s Top 10 1 st  Basemen – PIITB by JD     I am back with my next set of positional rankings for the 2023 season. Unfortunately, this one won’t include two Mets in the top 10 like the starting pitcher list. But, our next extension candidate, (and my pick for captain) Pete Alonso will make an appearance. Let’s kick it off! 1. Paul Goldschmidt- How could I not put Goldy at #1. Coming off a career year and his first MVP season Goldy has to get to the #1 slot. This man had a 7.1 fwar coupled with 35 homers, .317 average and a 177 wrc+. The next couple of guys on this list may end up having a better 2023, but it would be disrespectful to Goldy for him not to be #1.   2. Freddie Freeman- No surprise here. Freddie has been one of the top first basemen in the game for the last several years. He is coming off one of his better seasons but one that is not as “Freddie-esque”. We are used to more power out of Freddie but his value did not take a dip by any means. He...