ATLANTA — Growing pains.
The Mets need to take a deep breath and so do the fans. The Mets have plenty of issues, they always do, but Travis d’Arnaud will be OK.
The young catcher is 0-for-15 heading into Tuesday’s matchup against Aaron Harang and the Braves at Turner Field. Worry about Lucas Duda or Ike Davis. Worry that last year’s ace Matt Harvey and now closer Bobby Parnell have to make it all the way back from Tommy John surgery, but don’t worry about d’Arnaud.
Eric Young Jr. is hitting .105 with a team high nine strikeouts, Curtis Granderon is batting .167 with eight Ks. David Wright is only at .238. Duda is hitting .143. As a team the Mets are batting .178.
It is never easy for young catchers, especially catchers with only 114 major league at-bats. In 2013 d’Arnaud got 99 major league at-bats and another 131 in the minors. Injuries have set back his progress, but this is purely a mechanical issue for d’Arnaud.
He has to do his best not to let it all get in his head and d’Arnaud has actually had four straight good at-bats.
If he was at Yankee Stadium, he would have had a game-winning home run Sunday in the Mets 2-1 loss to the Reds. But he plays at Citi Field. Better learn now that this is a gap ballpark and not to be late on the fastball.
The spotlight is brighter at the start of the year, so d’Arnaud is going to have to keep his head about him. Let others panic.
He seems to be holding up fine. He has an even keel way about him to start with and he has traditionally been a slow starter. It takes him a while to get his mechanics right because he has an issue where he bends his top wrist too much in his setup and he needs to have loose muscles to get to the ball.
He is attempting to make that adjustment. The worst thing he could do now is start with the head games and fall into that dreaded Jason Bay Abyss.
John Buck believes in d’Arnaud.
“From Day One he was a sponge,’’ the Mariners catcher, who broke in d’Arnaud last season, told The Post about d’Arnaud’s ability to soak up information. “We talked even after I left about stuff.’’
The bottom line with d’Arnaud is he had to win over the pitching staff first as a young catcher last season and again this season.
“Worry about behind the plate, we all know you can drop bombs and hit,’’ Buck said. “Do that stuff around the plate.’’
Sure, d’Arnaud has to get a hit just to get the oh-for at the start of the season swept under the rug. The reality is d’Arnaud is so focused on catching that he probably let the hitting aspect of the game get away from him a bit.
“When he over-turns that wrist, he is late on the fastball,’’ said a scout who has watched d’Arnaud multiple times this season. “He needs to be quicker to the ball.’’
The Mets worry so much about the philosophy of hitting, and that is a legitimate worry, that sometimes the mechanics go awry. Looking to ambush a fastball at certain times in the count will help d’Arnaud as well.
Getting one hit and compiling an average should do wonders for him.
“My swing feels good,’’ d’Arnaud insisted after Sunday’s loss. He was one of the first Mets at his locker when the media entered the room, which is another good sign of accountability.
As for that drive to left he admitted the fastball got in on him a bit.
It’s time to ramp up the adjustments at the plate and the hits will follow. That’s the challenge beginning Tuesday night at Turner Field.
“Having that short swing, keep my eye on the ball and they will start falling eventually,’’ d’Arnaud said.
Slow down the at-bat and quicken the wrists.