So Kevin Plawecki’s Hand IS Broken

So it turns out Kevin Plawecki’s hand is indeed broken. So much for the Mets new competence with injuries.

After Wednesday’s game in which Plawecki was hit by a pitch on his left land, Mickey Callaway said X-rays were negative. Maybe Dr. Callaway read the X-rays wrong because now the Mets say an MRI confirmed a fracture.

So now the Mets are down to zero catchers, what with Travis d’Arnaud likely needing season-ending Tommy John surgery. And you know what — I don’t think this is a very big deal. Certainly you need a catcher, but what were Plawecki and d’Arnaud going to offer, anyway? Mediocre hitting and questionable catching? Anyone can do that.

This is why I advocated signing Jonathan Lucroy in the off-season. He ended up signing for $6.5 million with the A’s. As I’ve said before, whom would you rather have — Jason Vargas or Lucroy? The answer was obvious then (to me, anyway), and it is glaring now.

But that’s water under the Shea bridge. The Mets should just go with Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton. It would be a shame a to trade for a catcher from their surplus of starting pitching when they could have gotten one just for cash over the winter.

In any case, it is a tough break (no pun intended — or was it?) for Kevin Plawecki. He was finally given a chance to show whether he can be a full-time big league catcher, and this happens. But the Mets will be fine.