New York Mets Are Hoping Jay Bruce Can Get Going After Last Night’s Heroics

While the New York Mets continue to play well, they have done so despite little offensive production from their outfield. Yoenis Cespedes’ high strikeout totals have drawn most of the headlines, but he has still contributed a team high five homers and 21 RBI’s thanks to a ton of timely hits. Michael Conforto is also off to a slow start, batting only .213 with a homer and five RBI’s as he tries to shake off some rust from offseason shoulder surgery. The biggest surprise has been the lack of offense the Mets have received from Jay Bruce, who was their steadiest position player through the first four months of last season.

Entering last night’s game, Bruce was batting just .194 with a homer and seven RBI’s, including just two hits in his previous 24 at bats. Bruce has been bothered by plantar fasciitis, which he has dealt with throughout his career but aggravated in spring training. The Mets haven’t given Bruce a ton of time off, so the condition continued to deteriorate. A rain out on Sunday and a scheduled off day Monday gave Bruce two full days of rest, and he responded with a three hit game, including an RBI triple in the second inning and the game winning homer in the 10th.

With Todd Frazier starting to cool off, the Mets need another guy to pick up the pace in the middle of the lineup. Bruce is due to produce, and his track record has shown that he will routinely deliver at least 25 home runs and 80 RBI’s a year. The Mets have to hope that last night’s big performance is the start of a tear for Bruce, who is capable of carrying the lineup for a couple of weeks if he really gets going. The plantar fasciitis issue isn’t going away, so the Mets need to continue to be judicious in terms of giving Bruce regular rest. Fortunately for the Mets, they do have capable reserves in Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Bruce is one of the few sure things the Mets had in their lineup at the beginning of the season, and if he can get going it would really help them continue to build off of their strong start.