TAKE THE MET: John Buck and Vernon Wells (inset) have been nice surprises, but the Mets catcher will be the better play in the future for fantasy owners because there is a better chance he will stay in the starting lineup, The Post’s Jarad Wilk writes. (Reuters; Getty Images (inset))
Life is full of surprises (some good, some bad), so enjoy them while you can.
Some examples of bad surprises: Finding out your son or daughter got the part in the movie they auditioned for … but it’s an adult film. Your favorite football team, desperately in need of offensive assistance, uses its two first-round picks in the NFL Draft on defensive players. When you look up “Titanic” on IMDB.com (yeah, it happens) and find out someone actually went ahead and made “Titanic 2” (yes, it really exists).
Two examples of good surprises? The Yankees’ Vernon Wells and the Mets’ John Buck.
When Wells arrived in New York, there wasn’t much to be excited about — just another player the Yankees would need to supply with Ensure for the 2013 season. It was difficult to imagine anything good coming from a 34-year-old former All-Star who hit .222 in two seasons with the Angels. But, Wells, much like Ichiro Suzuki last season, has rediscovered himself in The Bronx. Going into last night’s action, the veteran is 24-for-78 (.308), with six homers, 11 RBIs, and career-highs in slugging and on base percentages. He went from barely being drafted to being owned in almost 100 percent of ESPN leagues and 48 percent of Yahoo ones.
Though Wells is experiencing a career resurgence, Buck has had an out-of-body experience in the season’s first month. Who would have thought Travis d’Arnaud would be the throw-in player in the deal for Buck? In the Amazin’s first 10 games, the veteran produced wild numbers, going 13-for-37 (.351) with six homers, 19 RBIs and a 1.215 OPS. Nevertheless, over his last 10 games (nine starts), Buck has looked more like the guy who hit .192 for the Marlins last season, going 6-for-36 (.182) with one homer and three RBIs. He also struck out nine times in his past seven games.
The question now is this: Which one of these surprises will last?
Wells is proving he still has gas left in the tank, but his time as an every-day player for the Yankees might be numbered with Curtis Granderson starting to take batting practice and eyeing a mid-May return. If Wells continues to produce, he could force manager Joe Girardi to push Ichiro Suzuki to the bench (or even a platoon situation), but the 39-year-old Ichiro woke up this week, going 8-for-25 (.320) from April 19 to Thursday to raise his average from .190 to .239, and any split time hurts Wells’ value.
Buck has no competition (Anthony Recker is his backup), more so now with d’Arnaud’s broken foot keeping him sidelined two months. It might seem like Buck is heading toward his .236 career batting average rather than fantasy success, but he plays a position where it is hard to find quality every day players. And that’s the key, he’s an every day player (and will be for the foreseeable future), which makes him a player who should continue to surprise in a lineup that needs the assistance.
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