NEVER CATCH THIS 22
Luis’ marathon plate appearance will be tough to top
PORT ST. LUCIE — That’s it. The competition is over. Luis Guillorme won spring training. The Mets’ super-utility infielder stepped up to the plate to leadoff the fifth inning against Cardinals right-hander Jordan Hicks, who was making his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Guillorme made it as difficult as possible for Hicks across an epic 22-pitch plate appearance that eventually — 12 minutes later to be exact — resulted in a walk.
“It’s pretty cool,” Guillorme said in the understatement of the year. “I’m just happy I ended up with the walk because if I would’ve gotten out, that would’ve been not fun for me. All that work for nothing.”
It’s not like Hicks was throwing softballs, either. The Cards’ pitcher hurled six pitches that clocked in at 100+ mph, five of which Guillorme fouled off. Of the 22 pitches Hicks threw, only nine were outside the strike zone. Extraordinarily, Guillorme was down 0-2 in the count after Hicks’ second pitch before he fought back to take the walk. Hicks, despite the three-batter minimum rule, was removed from the game after facing just the one batter in Guillorme in the fifth inning.
“I think he made every single pitch, honestly,” “Every single pitch was
Guillorme spotted.”
Guillorme’s 22-pitch battle topped the longest plate appearance on record in a regular season since 1988, as far back as the data is available. And the reaction from his teammates on the bench, the crowd in Clover said.
Park, and even the players in the opposing dugout was priceless. Dominic Smith wore an expression of disbelief on the bench. Pete Alonso was out of his seat, waving his arms up and down and riling up the crowd.
Kevin Pillar tweeted: “Unbelievable at bat there G. 22 pitches with a guy throwing 100+ Loved the boys in the dugout fired up!!”
Tomas Nido called Guillorme a “legend.” Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty, who watched from the bench on the other side, tweeted: “never seen an AB like that.”
Manager Luis Rojas said the bench really got into the battle somewhere around pitch No. 8. The skipper echoed Flaherty and said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Having the guys in the dugout yelling all the time made it a little fun,” Guillorme said. “Made it easier to stay in there and keep battling.”
As “cool” as the 22-pitch walk was for Guillorme, it still didn’t top his other legendary moment in spring training when he caught the bat that flew out of Adeiny Hechavarria’s hands in 2017. Guillorme, one-handed, grabbed the flying bat at his perch on the top step of the dugout while his teammates covered their heads and ran in the opposite direction.
“I think the bat-catch is always going to top everything, honestly, at this point,” Guillorme said.
PETERSON SPUTTERS
David Peterson had a rocky outing in his second Grapefruit League start of spring on Sunday. The left-hander allowed three earned runs on five hits, with two walks and a strikeout over four innings and 68 pitches in the Mets’ 7-5 victory over the Cardinals. In the first inning, Peterson collected his first two outs on just five pitches before he spiraled a bit and allowed the next four batters to reach base, which cost him a pair of runs.
“Getting two quick outs and then letting guys on is unacceptable in my mind,” Peterson said.
The southpaw wants to get back to who he is as a pitcher, which includes attacking batters in the zone. Peterson said he is already looking forward to his outing. He has three exhibition starts remaining before the regular season rolls around.
PITCHERS HITTING
Whereas the Cardinals included starting pitcher Carlos Martinez in their lineup Sunday to get him some reps ahead of the DHless regular season, the Mets have yet to inject their pitchers in lineups. Rojas said his starters have so far been getting loose in the batting cage and could start making appearances at the plate “maybe in a week from now.”
“We’ve been talking about that,” Rojas said. “And it might be Jake (deGrom) the first pitcher swinging the bat. That’s what we’re thinking, potentially a week from now with them getting those live at-bats against other teams. “
REST UP
The Mets will have their first full off-day today for the first time in 10 days. Besides Carlos Carrasco, who will be at the Mets facility to play catch as part of his progression from a sore right elbow, the rest of the team will get a break from baseball activity. Rojas said the day off will be key for his players as they enter the midway point of spring training. Regular position players will begin to increase their playing time as much as seven to eight innings with Opening Day just more than two weeks away.
“Going into that second half of camp now, we’re going to tune things up a little bit,” Rojas said. “There’s some little bit of hotter weather waiting for us next week … So I think It’ll be a very productive one for the guys.”