I, for one, am shocked they would put him there; Duda doesn't play well in the outfield and has expressed his distaste for the position in the past. The lefty's fielding percentage has been consistently lower in the outfield throughout his time in the majors. Plus, it has been below average there and on-par with MLB positional averages at first base.
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| credit: Newsday |
According to Baseball Reference, Duda's "Rdrs/yr" has been severely below average in the outfield and right around average at first base. They explain the statistic to measure "the number of runs above or below average the fielder was worth per 1,200 innings (approximately 135 games)."Duda's career Rdrs/yr in the outfield stands at -27 while its at 1 when he's on first. For anyone who watches him play, looks at his stats or even listens to him, it's obvious he shouldn't be playing the outfield.
Much debate has ensued this winter about who should play first for the Mets, i.e. Duda or Ike Davis. GM Alderson clearly preferred to hand Duda the job after attempting to trade Davis all offseason. After no deal could be reached, the trade talks stopped and consensus is Davis will be at Spring Training (competing with Duda for first-base).
I don't see any good reason to keep Duda on the club if he won't play first base. Alderson's comments concern me because it is clear he doesn't perform well or comfortably in the outfield. If Davis will have the starting job in April, the two productive things to do with Duda options would be either to demote or trade him. If he doesn't get the job and the Mets could get something good for him--like a backup infielder or reliever--then they will have every reason to do it.
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