Major League Baseball

Mets Season in Review: Eric Campbell

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:43 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Darren Martino/FanSided via Rising Apple

When the Mets’ Lucas Duda went down with injury in June, Terry Collins first turned to Eric Campbell in hopes that he could fill in for the slugging lefty. Spoiler alert: he could not.

Campbell was first in-line for the Mets after the Duda and subsequent David Wright June injuries left a gap at both infield corner positions. His use did not end there, however.

Campbell even helped to plug occasional holes in the outfield and 2nd base. In that sense, he was willing to contribute where he could in 2016. The word “contribute” is used loosely in this case.

Let’s look at a bit more at his 2016 season.

How’d he fare in 2016?

Unfortunately, Eric Campbell performed as expected during his time with the Mets in 2016. Never one to match his minor league potential in the majors, Campbell again struggled last season. In two stints with the Mets, he batted a disappointing .173 with one home run and nine RBIs.

He struck out at an alarming rate, nearly every third at bat, and he could never seem to put together back-to-back solid offensive games.

“Soup,” as it turned out, was usually served cold.

Bad puns aside, his continued treacherous at-bats tortured Mets faithful as he became the symbol for the Mets’ first-half offensive futility.

Defensively, he wasn’t a complete disaster. He usually made the plays he should and sometimes even managed to surprise everyone with a standout play at either corner position.

One play from 2016 that sticks out is when Campbell saved a crucial game in September by robbing Ender Inciarte of a hit in the bottom of the eighth inning. This was probably the highlight of his season.

Still, Campbell simply couldn’t get it going in Queens the way he could in Las Vegas, where he saw some success. In Las Vegas in 2016, with the Triple-A squad, Campbell batted .301 with 7 home runs and 47 RBI. This was Campbell’s M.O. and why he became labeled a quadruple-A player by many fans.

Back at the end of May, when it became clear the Duda would be out a long time with his back fracture, I plead that the Mets should drop Campbell in favor of signing James Loney. I am happy to say that my feeling was the right one (though to be fair, I was far from the only person advocating the move).

Areas for Improvement

Where can Eric Campbell improve in 2017? Is “everywhere” too cruel of an answer?

Campbell needs to adjust to major league pitching. There were simply too many times, where he looked completely overmatched at the plate. The strikeout rate tells the story.

Role in 2017

In 2017, his areas for improvement and role will be a moot point as he won’t be on the Mets or any other major-league team.

While “Soup” was never a fan-favorite, both Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson were clearly fans. They seemingly loved his versatility and positive team-player attitude. Most importantly, they probably loved his low cost. When Collins and Alderson filled out their roster for the Wild Card Game against the San Francisco Giants, they included Campbell (and James Loney) over Lucas Duda, to the foul cry by many-a-fan.

Contract Status and Trade Rumors

On November 3rd, the Mets removed Campbell, along with Jim Henderson from the 40-man roster, ending his tenure with the team. He would quickly go on to sign a contract with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. And so ends another less-than illustrious Met career.

In the end, “Soup” will not be on the menu in 2017, which means we will all need to find a new whipping boy. Side note: Jay Bruce is still a New York Met.

Next: Why Matt Wieters isn’t the answer for the Mets at catcher

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