NEW YORK — Travis d’Arnaud isn’t expected to hit in the majors like he did at Triple-A Las Vegas. But the New York Mets won’t mind if Tuesday night was a sign of things to come for their prospective franchise catcher.
The Mets recalled d’Arnaud from Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before he hit a three-run homer to put the exclamation point on an early offensive outburst by the Mets in their 10-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
D’Arnaud earned the recall after putting up video game numbers at Las Vegas, for whom he hit .436 with six homers, 16 RBIs and 14 extra-base hits in 55 at-bats. The Pacific Coast League is notoriously hitter-friendly, but d’Arnaud’s domination — as well as his determination — is exactly what the Mets wanted to see after he was sent to Las Vegas on June 7 after hitting just .180 in his first 128 at-bats this season.
“Like I said when I left, I knew I had work to do,” d’Arnaud said Tuesday afternoon. “Like I said before I left, it was unacceptable. So I had a long look in the mirror with myself, and had a good conversation with myself, and found myself.”
D’Arnaud would not be the first player to make such a discovery after an unexpected detour back to the minor leagues. Mets manager Terry Collins said Tuesday night that he detected a change in the plate approach displayed by d’Arnaud, who finished 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.
“I think what we saw tonight — (not) just the home run, it was the swings,” Collins said. “Every time up, even if he didn’t hit the ball, he took better swings, more aggressive swings. And I think maybe the time down there really did help him. I hope it did.”
When the Mets sent d’Arnaud to Las Vegas, they acknowledged he might still need some
seasoning because left foot and left knee injuries the previous two seasons limited him to 335 at-bats at Triple-A.
But d’Arnaud proved in his brief rampage at Las Vegas that he’s done all he can do there: He is hitting .344 with 24 homers and 80 RBIs at Las Vegas since 2012. Now the 25-year-old needs to parlay those numbers into sustainable big league success.
“He never showed a lack of confidence (but) he just knew that he wasn’t hitting (and) was beating himself up,” Collins said before the game. “So I just thought a little time down there was going to help him out. We’ll certainly see what happens. But he’s well-aware that a lot of guys have been sent (down) and come back up and never see the minor leagues again.”