Ex-Yank Melky happy to return to Big Apple
“I’m looking forward to being settled. I truly believe that I’m going to be an untapped potential once I’m truly settled and know I’m not going anywhere for that year and I know that I’m going to be in a city.”
Mets fans should hope his best year is this 60-game season. Stroman will follow Jacob deGrom in a rotation that includes Steven Matz, Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha. He wants to take the Amazin’s into the playoffs again.
“I think we have a lot of depth,” he said. “To be honest, I always have the utmost confidence in myself to go out there and perform. Pressure situations, I feel like I always sort of rise. I feel like I should be able to step into the two, three, four, one, whatever it may be and go out there and dominate whenever I’m on the hill.”
Melky Cabrera made sure to stay in shape after the Mets set up a workout for the outfielder back in late February. As a free agent looking for employment, he still had not hooked on with a team before spring training.
The 35-year-old played first base in that workout, as the Mets considered whether he would make a solid addition to the team. Cabrera didn’t really hear from the Mets after that, but instead of losing hope, he continued to train and hoped he would get the opportunity to play.
Once the Mets received an official announcement from Major League Baseball on the 60-game season, they called Cabrera’s agent and signed the outfielder as a free agent in late June. He was immediately added to the team’s 60-man player pool and has since worked out with the Mets at Citi Field.
The Mets hope Cabrera can be their extra outfielder, maybe even play some first base and take some reps from the designated hitter spot.
“With the opportunity that I have, I think I’m able to bring veteran leadership and also with the versatility I have, being a switch hitter, in any position they put me in, I think I can help the team,” he said.
Cabrera, a native of the Dominican Republic, has played for the Yankees, White Sox, Royals, Blue Jays, Pirates, Giants, Braves and Indians over 15 years in the big leagues. He slashed .280/.313/.399 with a .713 OPS with 47 RBI and seven home runs over 133 games in Pittsburgh last year. The switch-hitter has a .285 career average.
He’s happy to be back in New York again, where he debuted for the Yankees in 2005 as a 20-year-old center fielder.
“This is where I first started my career and I’m grateful for the team to give me this new opportunity to continue playing here,” he said.
CANO STILL NOT IN CAMP
Sunday marked the sixth day Robinson Cano was not in attendance at Mets camp. The veteran second baseman trained with the team for its first full-squad workout last Friday, and showed up the next three days. But he was last seen at Citi Field on July 6.
The Mets, as an organizational policy, are not discussing the coronavirus as a potential reason for player absences. However, manager Luis Rojas was asked Sunday whether any of his players have sustained injuries in camp. To that question, Rojas answered no. Everyone on the field is healthy. It can then be deduced that Cano’s mystery absence may, after all, be due to symptoms caused COVID-19.