'Here is Lucas Duda,' Sherman writes. 'Lefty power on a roster so terrible the opportunities appear limitless. He popped enough homers at 25 to entice, fell to the minors at 26 and now is back at 27 to try to be part of an outfield so brutal he actually is the sure thing.'
Michael Baron, MetsBlog.com:
I feel like this is a similar conversation which took place last year about Duda. In fact, it seems as though Duda's confidence is always on the front-burner and something which he is always trying to overcome.Duda's defense will always be a problem no matter where he plays in the field ' his value will ultimately be determined by what he provides offensively. I don't think there's any question about what he's capable of doing; it's about his confidence, pitch recognition and execution, and putting the package together consistently. If he can use the entire field and get more balls in the air while using both gaps, the results should be better. But it's going to be important he applies all of this early and gets off to a good start in April. Otherwise, I fear things will spiral for him much like they did last year.
