Lagares made significant progress in 2011, appearing in 80 games for St. Lucie and 38 games for the Binghamton Mets, where he hit .338/.380/.494.
With nine triples this season, he was the Mets’ third-leading full-season farmhand in triples (.349).
This past season, he batted .283/.334/389/6 triples with the 2012 Binghamton team A Binghamton Met record was set by him, with 353 putouts, four more than Emmanuel Garcia’s previous mark.
As for outfield assists, he led the Eastern League with 17, while also leading the league in putouts. The Las Vegas 51s’ Lagares blasted .346/.378/.551 with 13 runs in his first 17 games of the year. Afterward, he was called up to replace Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the majors.
He made his MLB debut in the fifth inning of a 2-2 game with the Dodgers, replacing Collin Cowgill in center field.
He fanned against Clayton Kershaw and singled against Paco Rodriguez in New York’s 7-2 loss. After playing the first 121 games of his major-league career, he hit .242 with four home runs and 34 RBIs.
For the most part, his worth came from his defensive play in the outfield, which had an OBP of .281. He had his best season in 2014 when he was awarded a Gold Glove for his centerfield defense.
To put it another way: He had an OPS+ of 102, which is above average for a player his age, in 116 games.
He was a key member of the Mets’ World Series-winning squad in 2015, appearing in a career-high 143 games and batting .259 with six home runs and 41 RBIs.
In 2015, he saw his OBP fall back to a below-average .289, and his OPS+ also plummeted to 79, after he had previously raised it to .321.
Although he was at his best in the playoffs with a combined 8 for 23 (.348) in 13 games, he only managed seven hits.
Where Is Juan Lagares Now?
Juan Lagares is now with the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball.