Smith looks sleek, set
PORT ST. LUCIE — Wednesday morning, Jacob deGrom stood on the mound out on Field 4 of the Mets spring training complex. The ace peered in at an imaginary catcher before he looked over his shoulder and fired a throw to first in an attempt to pick off an imaginary baserunner. The first formal workout for the Mets pitchers and catchers began with fielding practice.
That’s a marked contrast from last spring, when the Mets did everything but wrap their pitchers in bubble wrap to try and prevent injuries. That included not allowing the pitchers to actually throw — they simulated a throwing motion — during fielding drills. That didn’t exactly work out, considering all but one starter had to go on the disabled list last season.
This year, the Mets are supposedly healthy and at full strength going into the season.
Under the new regime of Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland, the Mets are attempting to build up their pitchers’ strength through work, rather than just protection. There will be plenty of precaution, especially with the Mets’ reorganized medical staff focusing on proactively monitoring players’ health, but this spring there is no holding back.
“We have the plan,” Eiland said. “They are going to get sides and (batting practices) and we are going to go from there. There is nobody from a medical standpoint that we’re holding back. There is no red flags.
“This is baseball. There are going to be some guys that are going to be held back as we go, but hopefully it won’t be anything major,” Eiland continued. “We have to be careful and we’re going to err on the side of caution early. We also have to get these guys ready for March 29. If we hold them back too much, they are not going to be ready.”
After informal workouts for the last two weeks, the pitchers and catchers officially got their year started with the first formal workout.
The tone was set with a meeting Wednesday focusing on why the players need to put in their own work off the field to get ready. They emphasized that each pitcher — and catcher — will be held responsible for their preparedness. “Accountability” was the takeaway, one pitcher said.
That is a message the pitchers better get used to, former Mets reliever LaTroy Hawkins said. A big fan of Eiland from their days with the Yankees, Hawkins described him as a knowledgeable, straightforward and no-nonsense pitching coach who has high expectations.
“He’s honest. Sometimes, he’s brutally honest, but he lets you know what’s going on, what he’s thinking and what the team is thinking,” Hawkins said. “A pitching coach’s job is to help you get better and Dave is there to do that for you. He will help you all he can. He’s very supportive.
“But he won’t coddle you.”
Mets pitchers, who were pretty vocal last year about not needing a change in pitching coach, have had nothing but positive things to say about the new routines and working with Eiland and Callaway.
DeGrom said that they have talked to him about a new way to try and keep his front shoulder from flying open — a problem he has struggled with for years.
“It’s always good to hear new ideas,” deGrom said, “and try new things. So far, so good.”
Eiland has talked to Matt Harvey about some bad habits he picked up during the years he pitched through injuries.
“Getting him back to the level of 2013, certainly that’s our goal. We’ll see where it takes us,” Eiland said of Harvey. “He’s healthy. He’s done his work this winter. He’s in good shape, physically and mentally. I don’t know Matt that well obviously, but I am getting to know him. I have every reason in the world to be optimistic. What’s happened in the past is in the past and that’s where we are going to leave it.”
And Zack Wheeler said that despite the changes in little things, it all feels pretty familiar.
“Working with new coaches can give you a different way to look at something, more eyes looking at your delivery means they might see something to help you and that’s always good,” Wheeler said.
“But, in the end, it’s all about the same thing. We have to be prepared to go out there and that’s what everybody is trying to do.”
PHOWARD SIMMONS/DAILY NEWS/TNS ORT ST. LUCIE — Jacob deGrom’s shorter hair isn’t the only startling difference you notice immediately among the Mets’ players at spring training.
Dominic Smith was challenged by GM Sandy Alderson at the end of last season to report in better condition following a lackluster and out-of-shape cameo over the final six weeks of 2017, and the longtime first base prospect clearly put in the requisite work over the offseason to accomplish that task.
It still appears as if Smith will open camp behind veteran freeagent signing Adrian Gonzalez for playing time at first base, but he reported at a lean 225 pounds, shedding nearly 30 from his highest weight from one year ago.
“I notice a difference in everything I do, even just walking around the house,” Smith told the Daily News on Wednesday. “Just getting up and moving around, having more energy, better posture, better stamina, better everything. And I definitely feel different already out on the field. “I feel like I get around way easier. I’m stronger in BP, more mobile, I can bend over and get back to my feet quicker and change directions quicker and react faster. I definitely see a big difference in this short period of time.”
Yes, we’ve all read far too many springtime stories about players claiming to be in the best shape of their lives at the start of every new season.
But Smith’s mental and physical transformation appears as dramatic as it was imperative, especially after Alderson told him flatly during last October’s exit meeting that he wasn’t guaranteed a starting job after slashing just .198/.262/.395 with nine homers over 167 at-bats during his late-season call-up to the Mets.
The 35-year-old Gonzalez, a five-time All-Star who missed most of last season with the Dodgers with back issues, was signed for the major-league minimum ($545,000) after he was released by Atlanta.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Smith says. “I went up and played in the big leagues for a month and a half, and I didn’t play the way I would like. That’s just the bottom line and the truth of it…For them to go out and (sign Gonzalez) and try to help me along with my development, you can’t do anything but appreciate that and thank them, because whatever happens, I know I can