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And finally, for the minor-league followers:
Nick Evans began the season at Double-A Binghamton on a hitting tear, his average having climbed to .420 entering this weekend’s series against Portland. Yet not only was the Mets’ prospect not leading the Eastern League in hitting, he wasn’t even first on his team. Or second, for that matter.
Teammate Mike Carp – the league’s reigning Player of the Week, who had an off-year in 2007 that resulted in being snubbed for an invite to big-league spring training – ranked fifth in all of minor-league baseball with a .448 average through Friday, followed by Daniel Murphy at .446. Each prospect has appeared at first base this season for the B-Mets, leaving the organization in reasonably good shape if they eventually decide Carlos Delgado’s successor should come from within the organization.
Delgado (.228, 1 HR, 8 RBI through Friday) essentially has an $8 million team option for 2009, since his $12 million contract for next season would require a $4 million buyout.
“He’s a very good athlete, very good potential as a player,” Mets VP Tony Bernazard said about Evans, a fifth-round pick by the Mets in 2004 out of high school in Phoenix. “The ball jumps off his bat. He has a lot of power potential. He can hit the ball in the gaps. He’s very smart, a leader-type player. A quiet leader.”
During the opening month in the Eastern League, teams use the DH, which has allowed the Mets to mostly use Carp in that role, while Evans largely plays first and Murphy mostly third. Bernazard said the plan is to expose each of those players to multiple positions – with Murphy and Evans alternating between first and third and Carp mostly playing first and the outfield.
“We just kind of show up at the park and check the lineup card and see what it is,” Evans said.
Evans, 22, played third base in high school, so he’s familiar with that position, even though he had been exclusively a first baseman the past three seasons during stops in Kingsport, Brooklyn, Hagerstown and St. Lucie. Known for his power, the righty-hitting Evans hit .286 with 15 homers and 54 RBI in 378 at-bats in the pitching-rich Florida State League last season. He missed nearly all of last May with a ligament tear in his left ankle, and was scratched from the Hawaii Winter Baseball season with a stress fracture in his right, throwing hand.
“I think that’s what probably got my foot in the door – my ability to hit for power, but that’s not something I try to concern myself with,” said Evans, who had three homers and 18 RBI through 58 at-bats with Binghamton. “I try to learn how to become a hitter, not try to swing for the fences.”
As for his fielding, Evans offered: “Right now I’d say I’m most comfortable as a first baseman, because that’s what I’ve been playing for the last few years. I just have to get some work in the other positions (third base and the outfield) and hopefully I’ll get better at them.”
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