By now, you have all heard about the first basemen, Nick Evans and Mike Carp, down in AA who are on a tear. Well one rung below, in A+, there is another first basemen who is starting to get into the groove himself and his name is Lucas Duda. (Duda in college also played in the OF). Duda is not built as a power hitter.When you look at his numbers so far in the minors, he hits a lot of singles, and if he developed better plate discipline, he can be a lead-off hitter. Another possibility is that we have not seen his power yet because he will only be 22 during this season.
Before we get into the numbers, Duda played three seasons at USC. In 2007, the Mets drafted Duda in the seventh round which was pick #243 overall.
Minor League Stats:
07: 67 G, 234 AB, 32 R, 70 H, 20 2B, 4 HR, 32 RBI, .299 BA, .398 OBP
08: 26 G, 103 AB, 14 R, 34 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, .330 BA, .415 OBP
If you extrapolate his current 2008 stats over 234 AB, as many as he had in 2007 (Brooklyn), he should have 33 R, 77 H, 13 2B, 4.5 HR, 43 RBI. In other words, his stats stay mostly stay the same except for a decrease in doubles and an increase in RBI's. What I am really impressed with is his .330 BA. If he keeps that up for the year, then the Mets will have to consider moving him to AA next year. In the case that AA becomes to crowded with 1B, he can play in OF, he could also be used as trade bait.
He should have a lot more AB this year because he is playing a season of full professional ball, and he already is on pace for AB per game than last year. He should be interesting to keep an eye on and see how he develops.