Let's take a look at Ruben's 2012 statistics. 2012 was the first year after Jose Reyes departed for the sunshine of Miami. Tejada finished the season playing in 114 games, hitting .289 with one home run and twenty-five runs batted in. In just over 500 plate appearances, Ruben Tejada reached his peak....at age 22. Normally you'd say that at age 22 you are developing into the type of player you may become at say, age 25. This is not the case for Ruben, who hit his peak in 2012.
In 2013, Tejada was handed the short stop job without a fight. He had earned his spot, hitting .289 the year before. If 2012 was Tejada's peak, 2013 proved why. Battling injuries all season, and mostly his entire career, Tejada battled a disappointing .202 with an OBP of .259. Remember, this man was the team's lead off hitter for the better part of 2012. Tejada's futile hitting found him back in triple-a for the first time in nearly two years.
Today, we watch a healthy Tejada struggle to regain any form of his past self. Many figured 2013 was a fluke season ravaged by injuries. Our general manager took shot after shot at the 24 year old short top all winter long. Many believed Sandy would make a move to strengthen our shortstop position, and not let Ruben hang out to dry. Instead, Tejada was handed the shortstop job on the basis of hope and lack of competition. With April winding down, the Mets are a respective 10-10. They have been able to accomplish this despite the fact that their shortstop and right fielder have given them nothing offensively. First base has now become one of the lesser problems of this ball club when you analyze the 24 year old shortstop on the decline. It's frustrating to watch. Something has to give...
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