New Mets changed team
Kershaw gets first look at remade club since July meetings.
Clayton Kershaw isn’t sure what to expect from the new-look Mets, whose dramatic transformation in the second half of the season led to an NL East title.
The Los Angeles Dodgers ace faced a different New York lineup before the July trade deadline. Even veteran Mets infielder David Wright was out.
“There’s a lot of guys that I’ll be seeing for the first time this season,” Kershaw said Thursday. “Definitely a completely different team. Obviously, a lot better.”
When Kershaw takes the mound for tonight’s opener at Dodger Stadium, he’ll be trying to earn just his second postseason win after going 0-4 in his last two series against the Cardinals.
“I definitely remember,” he said, “but it’s a new team, new season and, hopefully for me, a new outcome.”
Kershaw will face Jacob deGrom, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year.
The Mets won four of seven meetings between the teams, all in that month before Yoenis Cespedes arrived from Detroit in a July 31 trade that boosted an anemic offense. They are in the playoffs for the first time in nine years; the Dodgers make their third straight appearance for the first time in franchise history.
Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe joined the Mets shortly after Cespedes, acquisitions manager Terry Collins credited for turning around the team along with the his message to the players: If you hit, you’ll play.
“Lucas Duda took off, (Wilmer) Flores took off, Kelly Johnson and Juan kept playing, as well,” Collins said. “All of a sudden guys are looking at their jobs saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to step up here, and they did.’”