Two at-bats and a few innings into the 2007 NY-Penn League Season, Mets draft pick Zach Lutz went from being the toast of Brooklyn to finding himself on crutches with a hairline fracture in his left foot for the entire season. Watching him before the season started, there were extremely high hopes for the Alvernia College star, who was expected to be the Cyclones starting third baseman. Even though a combination of J.R.Voyles and Jake Eigsti put up more than solid stats at the position, playing excellent defense and having dependable seasons at the plate, the ‘what could have been’ for Cyclones fans is still a question that begs to be answered.

I still remember how hopeful he sounded a few days after he was drafted when I interviewed him over the phone. It was almost like the kid knew the right answers to my questions and was ready to make a splash. I wondered if he had the moxy and determination on the field to be a force, because let’s be honest here, college ball isn’t exactly the same as playing in the NY-Penn League. Nonetheless, after a 15-minute phone conversation in June, the kid had me itching to see him play.

When I did see him play about a week later at the Cyclones preseason warm-ups, held every year for the media and season ticket holders, I saw why he compared himself to David Eckstein a few days earlier. Quick on his feet and hustling throughout, the media was drooling at the site of him.

Here’s a snippet of the article I wrote the next day…

“…by the end of the workout however, it was obvious that Mets 2007 fifth round pick Zach Lutz was going to get a big look at third base, as the 22-year old from Alvernia College took a majority of the ground balls there, showing a cannon of an arm and solid range, in addition to soft hands and quick feet. Quick to bounce off the question of where he thinks he’ll be playing when the season starts, Lutz, who compares his game to former World Series MVP David Eckstein, just wants to help the team win and doesn’t care where he plays.

“It’s my job to help this team win and that’s what I’m going to do,” said Lutz. “It doesn’t matter where I play.”

Lutz also managed to put on an exhibition during BP, while first time Cyclones’ Raul Reyes, Matt Bouchard and Lucas Duda also showed some pop, sending a few balls over the left field and center field walls…”

So imagine how I felt, a reporter who got the first big interview with this kid, seeing him go down after less than a game. Afterwards, one of my articles on him got pulled and then I was wondering if the team was going to play the same type of slow-moving, defensive and pitching oriented game they played the season before under George Greer. Then imagine how the fans felt when the highest drafted player on the team at the time gets injured with no clear cut replacement in sight. Even though the complete opposite happened, as the 2007 Cyclones had a more than competent offense to go a long with a deep pitching staff and solid defense, it makes you wonder what could have happened if Lutz was around and if they could have won their first NYPL championship since 2001 with him at third.

With the 2008 season and draft right around the corner, it’ll be interesting to see where Lutz winds up this season.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.