Phillies Opposition Roadblock: New York Mets
The Position Player: Jay Bruce
It is always difficult this early in the year when some guys are struggling right out of the gate. When I look at the Mets lineup, I tend to shrug with indifference. There are definitely some threatening pieces, but none that scare me as much as the likes of Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy. There are ways to get these guys out, and with Jerad Eickhoff leading the way, the Phils will need to attack this lineup to keep them struggling the way they have through their first six.
One guy to keep an eye on this week is Jay Bruce. He is going to be my pick in the first Mets-Phils meeting of 2017. I would love to pick Cespedes, but the outfielder is struggling beyond words early on (.182/.308/.364 with one homer and 5 strikeouts).
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On the other hand, Bruce has been the Mets best offensive weapon thus far. He is the team leader in homers (two) and on-base percentage (.400) after six games. His .600 slugging percentage is obviously inflated because of it being so early, but in a struggling offense, it is obvious that he presents the biggest threat.
The Phillies are slated to start three righties: the aforementioned Eickhoff, Clay Buckholz, and Vince Velasquez.
Bruce has shown much more power against righties over the last three seasons (61 homers to 16). Even more terrifying are his numbers at Citizen’s Bank Park (.407/.556/.556, one dinger, 3 RBI, and 9 Ks).
In order to slow him, the Phils will want to rely on offspeed and breaking stuff in the zone. He is not a guy who has much luck away from the fastball. He loves to extend his arms when a pitcher does make the mistake of a fastball in the middle part of the zone. The Phillies pitchers are going to work to make him hook balls into the shift consistently over the next few days.
In a lineup full of guys struggling early in the season, a staff has to find ways to make it difficult to get going. By putting a stranglehold on perhaps the only bat really working right now, the Phils could really do some damage to a reeling Mets offense.