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Palladino: Jay Bruce Has That Jason Bay Look, And That's Not Good

By Ernie Palladino
» More Ernie Palladino Columns

Unless he gets hot over these final 30 games, Jay Bruce might have to get used to hearing one word around the Mets.

"Next!"

Acquired at the trade deadline to provide some thump to the middle of the lineup, Bruce has barely replicated a popgun. At this point, with the revived Mets well in the thick of the race for the second wild card, Bruce is looking nothing like a player who will cost the franchise $13 million on a team option next season.

It would be better at this point to pay him his $1 million buyout immediately after the season and use the remaining $12 million to convince Yoenis Cespedes, the true mover and shaker in the lineup, to re-up long-term.

Jay Bruce
The Mets' Jay Bruce bats against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 19, 2016, at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

This is not meant to climb all over Bruce. He seems to want to do well here. Perhaps too well, as even manager Terry Collins has noticed how hard he's pressing to rise from his monthlong slumber and actually contribute to the cause.

It's just that he's looked more and more like another player with the initials JB, as in Jason Bay. Not a career bust, by any means. Just another in the line of otherwise good players whose talent wilted under the spotlights that shine down on the Bronx and Flushing ballparks.

As Bay proved in three miserable years with the Mets from 2010-12, it takes a particular type of person to succeed here. Bay came over as a good power hitter, fresh off a 36-homer season with Boston. In seven years with the Pirates and Red Sox, Bay hit more than 20 homers seven times, including four seasons of 30 or more homers.

He hit 26 with the Mets.

Total.

Meanwhile, there was pressing, folding, injuries, more pressing, more failure.

Bruce could be following that same path. He was more than comfortable in Cincinnati, a nice little town just across the river from Kentucky. He was settled in the Reds' lineup, and productive with three straight seasons of 25 or more homers. Before he was traded, he was on track to hit 30 or more this year.

But once the Mets shipped off star middle infield prospect Dilson Herrera and another farmhand for Bruce, things suddenly changed for him. The power shut down. The strikeouts mounted -- 26 in 24 games, including Friday's Golden Sombrero and three whiffs in four at-bats Sunday.

A .163 batting average since Aug. 1, down from the .265 he compiled with the Reds beforehand, has turned little pressures into weights of Olympic lifting proportions. The fact that Collins had to give Bruce a "mental" day off Saturday shows just how uncomfortable he has become in his new surroundings.

Power? He has but two homers to go along with his six RBIs since donning the new colors. And need we talk about the .222 batting average with runners in scoring position?

Of course, Bruce is not alone in that area. In fact, he's hitting eight points above the Mets' last-place average of .214, though he might not want to broadcast that minor achievement too loudly. Especially since he arrived here with 80 RBIs.

The Mets haven't really manufactured many runs all season. The home run, like the extra-inning clout Cespedes produced Monday against the Marlins, remains the lifeline between an early offseason and a shot at a playoff spot.

Bruce was brought here to strengthen that rope.

It hasn't happened. Not even Tuesday night, when Bruce actually showed signs of life as he scored the Mets' third first-inning run following his double in the 7-4 win over Miami.

That win, by the way, put the Mets 2½ games behind St. Louis for the second wild card.

MORE: Keidel: Mets Are Back From The Brink, Legit Playoff Contenders Again

But the Mets need much more out of Bruce than the occasional extra-base hit. They need power and RBIs.

And that may not happen this year.

If it doesn't, the last thing the Mets should do is keep Bruce around. He's just showing too many indicators that he's not cut out for the bright lights of New York.

The Mets just can't afford another Jason Bay.

Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino

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