YOENIS WHO?
Resurgent Bruce makes up for loss of injured slugger
ATLANTA — As the Mets braced for the possibility last offseason that Yoenis Cespedes would depart, they bought a $13 million insurance policy in the form of picking up Jay Bruce’s 2017 option. Call it money well spent. Cespedes ultimately returned on a new four-year contract, but for the past five weeks, with the All-Star outfielder on the disabled list, the Mets have been thankful for the slugger they tried to trade over the winter but retained after receiving limited interest from other teams in a flooded market.
Bruce enters play Friday night against the Braves as the team leader in home runs (15) and RBIs (40), continuing what he considers a typical Jay Bruce season.
“I’m a little ahead of my usual pace in homers, but it has been spot on,” said Bruce, who smashed two homers Wednesday in Texas, accounting for three of the Mets’ runs in their 4-3 victory. “I have felt in control. I think I have been in a good spot all year.”
Bruce, 30, is on pace for 43 homers and 114 RBIs, both of which would be career highs. Bruce’s best season in terms of homers came with the Reds in 2012 when he hit 34 and finished 10th in the National League MVP voting.
“When [Cespedes] got hurt, Jay was hot and we moved him into the three-spot and he carried us for awhile,” manager Terry Collins said. “Like anybody you have some ups and downs, but he’s got to keep swinging. [Lucas] Duda is starting to come around. Until we get Ces back, we are asking a lot of guys to step up.”
Bruce admits he is bothered by a batting average that recently has hovered around .250, but says he’s hitting the ball harder than he can remember and is pleased with the fact he has drawn 23 walks in 242 plate appearances.
This is hardly the Bruce who sputtered over the final two months of last season, after arriving at the trade deadline from the Reds, raising questions whether he had the makeup to succeed in New York.
The boos at Citi Field have been mostly replaced by a “Bruce” chant.
“There is an ebb and flow to it,” Bruce said. “When I’m not hitting well they are probably saying, ‘This is the same guy as last year,’ but when I am hitting well, it’s ‘Hey, this guy has changed.’ I’m a big just show up and play and be ready mentally, physically and not focus too much on what people think, what people say.
“I know the ability that I have as a player — I think it has shown since I have been here in New York and I just want to be part of something that is the main goal, which is to win the World Series.”
The Mets are awaiting Cespedes’ return from a strained left hamstring and right quadriceps discomfort that have kept him sidelined since April 28. Assistant general manager John Ricco recently said Cespedes is “close” to rejoining the Mets, and he began a rehab assignment Thursday.
As much as he has produced, Bruce doesn’t view himself as having assumed Cespedes’ role as the focal point of the Mets’ lineup in recent weeks.
“Baseball is much more about all the pieces that make the whole puzzle instead of just being the whole puzzle,” Bruce said. “Cespedes is a special player, but I try to do what I can. I’ve always been a run producer my whole career and had the ability to get hot and carry a team, and drive in runs and do damage.”