Asbrutal error shows it's time to call up Rosario
N O MORE excuses, Mets.
Call up shortstop Amed Rosario immediately. The Mets must improve the defense at shortstop. It doesn’t matter if Rosario needs more Triple-A at-bats. The Mets need a shortstop who can move and catch the baseball.
Asdrubal Cabrera made one of the worst errors of his career Tuesday night in the Mets ugly 5-4 win over the Brewers in 12 innings at Citi Field. Jay Bruce drove home T.J. Rivera with a one-out single for the win.
“I just f----- it up,’’ Cabrera said well after midnight of the pop fly he dropped way back in the seventh inning. Bruce then walked past and Cabrera added, “Thank you J.B.’’
With two outs in the seventh, the Mets leading 4-2 and the bases loaded, Jett Bandy skyed the pop to shortstop up into the mist. Pitcher Jerry Blevins began walking to the dugout. The Brewers runners dutifully ran the bases, expecting the final out to be
caught. As the ball came down it sailed over Cabrera’s head and off his glove as two runs crossed the plate to tie the game, 4-4. Then came the boos. This was Luis Castillo all over again against the Yankees in the Subway Series in 2009. The difference was the game didn’t end on that play. No one felt worse than Cabrera. This season has been a struggle for the veteran.
The error was Cabrera’s seventh in 33 games at shortstop. He made seven errors all of last season. Mets officials are well aware of that number and know something must be done. For a team that is supposedly built on starting pitching this cannot continue to go on day after day.
Either call up Rosario, a gifted defender, or move Jose Reyes to short. Perhaps Cabrera could move to third, but a move has to be made.
That their relief pitchers walked three batters in the seventh inning was bad enough but that the Mets couldn’t catch an inning-ending pop fly told you all you need to know.
Rosario, 21, went 2-for-4 on Tuesday, raising his average to .357.
The Mets can’t be worried about Super 2, starting the arbitration clock or free agency way down the road. This is about now. This is about putting the best team on the field.
As one NL scout who has seen Rosario play this season told The Post’s Mike Puma recently, “He can play with the Mets. He is an exciting player, natural movements, very athletic. Nobody is in his way. He will excite the fans.”
Unless Rosario can’t handle the major league heat he will not make seven errors in 33 games. Have faith in your young players.
Remember what the Mets were saying about Michael Conforto before they called him up in 2015, that he needed to work on his defense.
Conforto, of course, had some growing pains to go through, all young players do, but his defense has been fine since Day 1, so good in fact that he will be in center field when Yoenis Cespedes returns to the team.
But when it comes to personnel decisions, the Mets always seem to get in their own way and this is another example. The Yankees, on the other hand, finally have allowed their young players to be set free and are reaping the benefits of Aaron Judge’s amazing season.
This is a new day in the major leagues, young players provide so much energy that they pick up a team. Rosario would be an instant lift to the Mets.
The Mets cannot afford to suffer anymore with poor defense at shortstop. The starting pitching is beginning to come around and manager Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen both told The Post on Tuesday that key mechanical flaws in Matt Harvey and Jacob de Grom’s deliveries have been corrected. In addition, most Mets pitchers were rushing to home plate with runners on base and that was creating other delivery issues. Those issues have been fixed. For the Mets this is about pitching and defense because the offense has been a pleasant surprise.
The Mets need to get this right immediately. They need to bring Amed Rosario home to Citi Field to play shortstop.