New York Mets slugger Lucas Duda has been placed on the DL after suffering what is being called a left intercostal strain. Duda is probably relatively unknown, but he has had a fine year splitting time between first base and the outfield.
After struggling last year, Duda currently has a .235/.353/.438 line with 11 home runs on the year. Last season he hit just .239/.329/.389, so there has been an obvious improvement in both his ability to draw walks (up to a 14.1% rate from 11.1% last year), as well as his power.
He slugged 15 home runs last year, so he is only four short of that mark with half a season still to go. He was often tabbed as a power threat in the minors, so it is nice to see him finally tapping into that a little more than he has in the past.
In accordance with the move, the Mets opted to call up corner outfielder Zach Lutz, instead of struggling first baseman Ike Davis. Davis was sent down earlier this season after hitting an abysmal .161/.242/.258 on the year.
However, a Mets source said that they were not considering Ike to replace Duda, as they think he still needs more time, which is probably true. He is hitting well down there so far (1.153 OPS) but it has been only 16 games, and that is not enough to overshadow what he did (or didn’t do) in his time with the Mets this year.