MLB

Mets’ d’Arnaud hits homer but still slumping

JUPITER, Fla. — Travis d’Arnaud finally has something to celebrate about his exhibition season.

After a mostly anemic spring, the Mets catcher smashed the first pitch he saw Saturday and cleared the left-field fence at Roger Dean Stadium, perhaps signaling he has found something.

“It’s funny that it wasn’t even mechanical, it was all just my approach.” d’Arnaud said after his two-run homer helped the Mets to a 10-2 victory over the Marlins. “Earlier this spring maybe I didn’t have an approach, now

I’m just taking it day by day to keep trust in the process and trust my swing and just keep the same approach.”

The second-inning blast against Brad Hand snapped a 0-for-21 skid for d’Arnaud, who is batting .139 with a homer and two RBIs this exhibition season.

Unlike last year, when veteran John Buck was an option, the Mets have no real safety net behind d’Arnaud. Anthony Recker is a solid backup, but the Mets likely wouldn’t be comfortable using him on a regular or semi-regular basis.

The 25-year-old d’Arnaud was on course to join the Mets before midseason in 2013 had he avoided injury. But after sustaining a broken foot in April on a foul tip behind the plate, d’Arnaud spent most of the season trying to get healthy. He made his debut for the Mets on Aug. 17 and hit .202 with one homer and five RBIs in 99 at-bats for the season.

“We know he’s got the power,” manager Terry Collins said. “And hopefully [the homer] does get him to relax a little bit, but I don’t want him swinging for the fences. When we got this guy in the [R.A. Dickey] deal, it was the power to right-center that made him special.”

The Mets have too may potential holes offensively to make catcher a strictly defensive position. Daniel Murphy, David Wright and Curtis Granderson are known quantities within the lineup, but there are questions behind that group. Getting a d’Arnaud who can reach base at a .350 clip and hit 12-15 homers would certainly go a distance toward lengthening the lineup.

“We aren’t going to win 90 [games] waiting for two, three, four and five to do all the damage,” Collins said. “It’s got to be throughout the lineup.”

Earlier this month, the Mets brought Mike Piazza to camp as a guest instructor who spent much of his time mentoring d’Arnaud. The lessons of those sessions centered on hitting the ball to the opposite field and maintaining a positive mental approach.

“He helped me remember when things go bad just go back to a certain focal point sometimes,” d’Arnaud said. “Now I need to apply it and get it right.”

Though the Mets’ top pitching prospect, Noah Syndergaard, may emerge as the best component of the trade that sent Dickey to the Blue Jays before last season, it was d’Arnaud who served as the centerpiece of the deal.

D’Arnaud’s offensive struggles haven’t affected his handling of the pitching staff, according to Collins. Defensively, d’Arnaud had a few miscues early in the spring, according to catching instructor Bob Geren, but has settled in recently.

“He had a couple of exchanges that didn’t get out early — we worked on a couple of keys for that,” Geren said. “It’s spring training. There were a couple of balls that got by him. Nobody wants to have a slow spring, but it’s not over yet.”

The Mets want to beef up d’Arnaud’s at-bats total in this final week of the exhibition season. He could nearly double the 30-bats he had entering play on Saturday by the time the Mets leave Montreal in six days for the start of the season.

D’Arnaud doesn’t need a stat sheet to tell him it’s been a rough spring.

“I’m just going based on feel right now, I know my numbers aren’t very high,” d’Arnaud said. “But for me right now I’m seeing the ball well out of the pitcher’s hand and now, the next week, I want to implement keeping my eye on the ball and just striking the ball well.”