Late 2000's Mets Utility Player: Nick Evans (2008-2011)
Evans was primarily a first baseman in the Mets organization, in 2007 he batted .286 with 15 HRs at A ball St. Lucie. In 2008 he was at AA Binghamton when he was brought up to the Mets in May to replace an injured Marlon Anderson.
In his first MLB at bat he doubled off Colorado’s Jeff Francis, & then hit two more doubles in the same game. He was the first Met since Kaz Matsui in 2004 to have three extra base hits in his MLB debut. He got to play regularly for a week but after his hot start was batting .174 when he was sent back down in June. At Binghamton overall he would bat .311 with 14 HRs & 53 RBIs on the year, finding his way back up to the majors in the summer when Ryan Church got injured.
On August 31st he hit his first career HR coming against the Florida Marlins. In 50 games at the big league level he hit .257 with two HRs ten doubles & nine RBIs. By now Evans had become a highly touted prospect, although a first baseman by trade his future would soon be in jeopardy with the emergence of Ike Davis.
Evans also did not hit for power, but the team was hoping he could be more of a doubles hitter, especially in Citi Field where he had little chance to hit HRs in the big ball park.
In 2009 he began the year at AAA Buffalo but got sent down to AA Binghamton when he struggled. At the end of June he was back with the Mets for a month.
He hit a HR in his second game back, gathering two hits & two RBIs at Citi Field in the Mets 11-0 win over the Cardinals. The bouncing around of Evans continued as he was back at the end of August through September. On the year he hit .231 with one HR five doubles & seven RBIs in 30 games (15-65).
In 2010 he hit well at both AAA Buffalo & AA Binghamton batting .300 with 20 HRs 44 doubles & 80 RBIs getting a brief two game call up to fill a roster spot in July, but then returned as a September call up.
On September 19th his RBI single off Chan Ho Park beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the bottom of the 9th inning at Citi Field for an exciting walk off win. In 20 games he hit .306, with one HR 3 doubles & 5 RBIs in 36 at bats.
In 2011 he continued to hit at the minor league level batting .313 with 13 doubles 8 HRs & 32 RBIs at AAA Buffalo.
When he was brought up to the Mets in May after David Wright went on the DL, it took him ten games to get his first hit. He was sent down to make room for Lucas Duda, but returned to the club in July and over a month got his average to peak at .300. He saw alot of playing time in August & September since Ike Davis was gone for the season with injury.
In early September he hit HRs in back to back games then two days later had a three RBI day in Florida against the Marlins. He drove in 14 runs in the month and finished the year batting .256 with 4 HRs 10 doubles 26 runs scored 25 RBIs & a .214 on base % in 59 games. At first he posted a .993 fielding % making just three errors. The Mets decided to part ways with Evans as he was let go to free agency in November 2011.
He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates two weeks later & played just 21 games in their minor leagues in 2012. He was granted free agency getting signed & released quickly by the L.A. Dodgers.
In Spring Training of 2013 he signed with the Arizona D-backs. He played 133 games as an all around guy for AA Mobile batting .267 with 19 HRs & 81 RBIs.
In 2015 he played at AAA Reno batting .310 in 139 games. He was released by Arizona & signed with the San Diego Padres in November 2015.
In a five year MLB career he is batting .257 with 30 doubles 3 triples 10 HRs 56 runs scored & 53 RBIs posting a .305 on base % in 177 games.
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