The Duda dilemma

Eric Campbell in the starting lineup? A Met team in desperate need of offense turning to Kelly Johnson? It could be deja vu all over again!

Johnson is one of the players mentioned by ESPN’s Adam Rubin and others as a potential replacement for the injured Lucas Duda. Campbell is playing first right now, but even the Mets seem to realize that Campbell should not be able to start 45 games this season as he did last year, when the Mets offense was in such a shambles that the trade for Johnson and Juan Uribe was seen as an exciting upgrade at the time.

Of course, the real upgrade came a few days later, when the Mets traded for Yoenis Cespedes and the offense took off.  But what’s scary now is that Cespedes has already taken off this season, leading the majors in homers with 15 and the NL in RBI with 36, and the Mets are still just 24th in MLB in runs scored.

(Fun fact, Squawker Lisa: The two ALers ahead of Cespedes in RBI are Robinson Cano and David Ortiz.)

Michael Conforto, who was also part of last season’s late offensive surge, and Neil Walker have also been productive, but the Mets have to wonder if Curtis Granderson’s .259 batting average last season was an aberration.  Granderson, hit.227, .229, and .232 his previous three seasons and is hitting .207 now.

Travis d’Arnaud also contributed to last season’s offensive surge after returning from injury, but he was hitting just .196 this seasons before he was hurt yet again.

Then there’s David Wright, who also returned from injury to help the Mets late last year.  Even after last night’s three-run homer, Wright is hitting just .225 with 52 strikeouts in 129 at bats. And with his own back issues, he’s a constant injury risk.

When he was healthy, Duda continue to be a hitter who was great when he was on a home run streak but not so great otherwise, hitting .231 overall with 7 homers and just 19 RBI.

In the short run, the Mets will need to find someone such as Johnson or James Loney to help replace Duda. But in the long run, the Mets are going to need to be stronger at the corners than they are with Wright and Duda, which is why starting to train Conforto or Wright to play first base eventually makes sense.

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Last night, the Mets beat the Nationals, 7-1.  Bartolo Colon pitched well after several poor outings and the Met bats broke out against a lefty, Gio Gonzalez, who usually gives them trouble and shut them down just last week. The Mets are now just half a game out of first place. But the Mets still seem like a team with a lot of questions.

Tonight, Matt Harvey says he wants the ball for another shot at Stephen Strasburg and Washington after Harvey’s worst start ever  in his last game. If Harvey flounders again, well, at least he won’t have to hear the home fans boo. But if Harvey delivers, a team currently without a first baseman can end the night in first place.