Put It on the Right Side: Platooning Murphy, Turner and Duda

The return of David Wright to the Mets lineup should stabilize the left-side of the Mets infield again, slotting two of the team’s best players into the lineup on that side every day.

That leaves a trio of players (Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Lucas Duda) in the mix for two spots on the other side of the field, battling for at-bats and playing time wherever and whenever they can get them down the stretch.

Possibly the easiest solution to this dilemma would be to make Daniel Murphy the every day first baseman, Turner the every day second baseman and slot Duda into right field once Carlos Beltran is traded (provided, of course that trade does not bring back an outfielder).

But the simplest solution isn’t always the appropriate one and I’m not sure I like the idea of Murphy at first every day. It’s not because I don’t think he can handle it. It’s because it will hinder Murph in the future.

I’ve never been Daniel Murphy’s staunchest supporter. I think the guy is a very good hitter, but has a long way to go with the glove to be an every day major league player. But regardless of my opinion of him, it’s easy to see that Murphy’s future, with the Mets at least, is not at first base.

Provided Ike Davis finally gives the go-ahead for surgery in the next few weeks, there’s every reason to believe he’ll be back slugging monster homers onto the Shea Bridge at the beginning of the 2012 season. To play Murphy at first base then, as purely a stopgap, seems counterproductive to his development.

With that said, I do still want to see Murphy in the lineup for the rest of the season because I want to see if he can maintain his healthy batting average for a full year. In his only other full season, Murph hit .266. Is he really a .300 hitter? That is something that’s definitely worth finding out.

But I want Murphy to do it while playing a lot more at second base for the rest of this season. I want to see if he can handle it defensively over a large sample size and if he has a future there for the Mets.

If Murph can be even adequate at second defensively over the long term and keep his offensive numbers at the same level in the second half, he’s your every day second baseman in 2012. Sign Jose Reyes and the infield is complete for years. That’s huge.

This, however, is not to say that I would bench Justin Turner entirely either. While his numbers have shown a pretty steady decline since his torrid start to the season, I see this more as water finding its level than anything else. In fact, his triple slash is up in July after a pretty grotesque June.

I think Turner can still be a productive player for the Mets and a great fit in the seventh or eighth hole in the lineup once the team is fully assembled. He is still a guy that sees a lot of pitches and makes opposing pitchers work.

I also think Lucas Duda, given a healthy amount of at-bats, is starting to find his groove and deserves to get a good deal of playing time whether it be at first base or in right field.

Did you know that Duda is hitting .319 with a .407 OBP in the month of July, finally given the chance to play more than once a week? Not bad at all, Dude. Each player has earned a shot to be on the field for the rest of the season, so Terry Collins is going to have to get creative to make it work.

What I would do with the right side would be to alternate Murphy between first and second for the rest of the season, creating, in effect, a three-man platoon for the two positions. Murphy would play first against lefties with Turner at second. Against righties, Murphy would play second with Duda at first.

Now I know Turner has been markedly better against righties this season, but I don’t see the sample size as big enough to believe that it’s a long-term trend and anyway, if he’s going stick on the roster, JT will have to hit lefties at some point. Hopefully if he sees more of them, it can help his cause.

While this solution might give Turner the short straw in the short term, I think it can work long-term for all parties involved. Of course, the situation is fluid. Slumps and injuries will happen and the platoon will be adjusted accordingly.

But the most important part of this whole thing, and one of the most important things that can happen over the final two-plus months of the season is we can finally find out if Daniel Murphy, still one of the league’s leading hitters, can find a spot to stick in 2012.

For more posts from Devon, check out the Daily Stache.