Collins not concerned with d'Arnaud's struggles

CLEVELAND -- Since making his debut on Aug. 17, catcher Travis d'Arnaud has more strikeouts than base hits.

Hailed as the organization's No. 2 prospect, d'Arnaud was hitting .154 (8-for-52) over his first 16 games with the Mets entering Saturday. The slow start hasn't fazed New York manager Terry Collins, who realizes that, while the season is nearing its end, d'Arnaud's career is just beginning.

"This time of year, you should be looking, I don't care where they play, they should be at 400 at-bats. He's a long way from that," Collins said. "So I just think that we've got to reserve our judgment on where Travis is offensively and make sure that he continues to play, understand what it takes to be successful here."

Within his 60 plate appearances, d'Arnaud has two doubles, one home run, seven walks, 12 strikeouts and a sacrifice fly. He has driven in three runs and scored three runs.

He might not be powering the Mets' offense, but Collins is impressed by his catching ability.

"He's handled himself very well," Collins said. "I tell you, he receives the ball as good as any guys that have been around. He gets the low pitch. He receives that low pitch as good as anybody and he gets the called strikes."

The Mets don't seem to feel there's any reason to think their 24-year-old prospect will be anything other than a complete contributor to the team's goals in future years. After all, d'Arnaud has been a Major League player for less than a month.

"He's a real smart guy and he's going to get it," Collins said, "and he's going to know what he has to do when he comes in next year to certainly play at the quality we need him to play."