On Monday, Ike Davis made his Major League debut for the New York Mets. This small event, along with Moshe’s post yesterday, got me thinking about how excited we’ll be for Jesus Montero to make his Major League debut. There are some things I hope for in regards to that debut, and some things I don’t hope for.
I hope his call up comes soon, but not too soon. Montero doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man yet, but his bat is knocking hard on the door. That doesn’t mean, though, that the Yanks should rush Jesus to the Bronx. I want, and I think you want, him to be here in September at the earliest.
The most important thing is that when this move comes, it should not be made out of desperation. We could argue that the Mets called up Davis for this reason; they were looking pretty bad the last week or so and the offense needed a jolt. While Davis will likely do well, he is after all a good hitter, the move seems a bit rushed; he had fewer than forty plate appearances in AAA. But, when the front office and the manager are more or less fighting for their jobs, moves like this need to be done. Back to the Yankees: it’s unlikely that the Yankees will be in a bad spot and will need to call up Montero for a jolt of offense. The development of a future All-Star is more important than a few games mid-season. What comforts me is that the desperation scenario is unlikely. If you haven’t noticed, this team is pretty damn good.
When Montero does come up, I hope he is able to catch. There have been mixed reviews about his defense this season, but behind the plate is where Montero will bring the most value. If he can give even Mike Piazza or Jorge Posada level defense, he’ll be incredibly valuable.
Lastly, we need to not expect the world of this guy. We know what his ceiling is and we know how good he may be one day, no matter what the position. However, we should know from watching Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain that developing incredible talent is a slow process. As good as he may one day be, it’s not likely that Jesus hits the ground at full speed. We must harness our excitement and be patient. When he hits his first homer, though, go nuts.
Good luck for the rest of your time in Scranton, Jesus. We hope to see you soon.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
5 Responses to Anticipating Montero's Arrival
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
My only thing about expecting him to hit the ground running is that he HAS hit the ground running at every level, within about two weeks. I’d expect him to struggle a bit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he started hitting like Heyward very quickly.
The best call up situation that I can think of is this: Its mid-September. The Triple-A playoffs are just finishing up. The Yankees hold a commanding division lead over the Red Sox and Rays. The Yankees add Jesus to the 40-man roster, and let play nearly every day as Jorge Posada gets some rest. He gets 40-50 regular ABs before the playoff run begins, which he watches from the clubhouse but off the postseason roster.
He’ll be acclimatized and ready for a 2011 spring training audition for the majors.
I agree with you but, have the same conserns as does Reggie (below). They could use him as a pinch hitter and also come in and catch in the later innings, and DH once in a while.
A lot would depend on NJ and injuries to the team (mainly, catchers).
It’d be great to see Montero called-up in the late summer , but where would he play exactly. Cervelli is a roster fixture. The kid’s repoire with CC cant be dismissed. Cerv will need a reliable feeding of at bats to keep his hitting skills from eroding. If anything, we need to see more of Cervelli as catcher.
Barring an injury to NJ, Montero will have to show theorg exactly how much damage he can inflict over 500 at bats.
When this kid is done I really think his baseball card is going to look like Vlad Guerrero’s. I can’t wait.