COMPLETELY DEMORALIZED
Alderson must put an emphasis on Amazin’ ‘D’
THERE really is no excuse for how the Mets played defense on this beautiful late summer Sunday in New York.
If your general manager doesn’t really value defense, though, these kinds of days are bound to happen.
Out in left field Yoenis Cespedes could barely be bothered to go after the baseball. At third base, there was Wilmer Flores, who tries so hard but is defensively challenged. At shortstop, rookie Amed Rosario opted to glove tap with the speedy Dee Gordon running to first and at catcher Travis d’Arnaud had a shot for double play on a bad bunt, but decided to take only the easy out at first base.
Much of this happened in the seventh inning of the Mets’ ugly 6-4 loss to the Marlins, and it all helped cost Jacob deGrom a ballgame as the Marlins scored four times in the frame, the big blow being a laser three-run home run to left by Giancarlo Stanton, his 45th of the season and 12th this month.
If plays are made earlier, Stanton is either walked or does not get an at-bat in the seventh.
After the Rosario gift, deGrom threw up his hands in frustration, something he admitted later he should not have done.
Perhaps the word of the day is de minimis.
Remember, that was the word Sandy Alderson tossed around in mid-July when it came to the Mets’ poor defense. Essentially, Alderson comes from the school that a player’s offense far outweighs his defense — to a degree I agree with Alderson, but defense cannot be totally dismissed especially when you are rumored to have a pitching-first team — and the Mets had better make it more important next spring when they gather in Port St. Lucie.
It would not hurt if Alderson put a little more emphasis on that side of the game, as well.
“We should have made some plays that cost us a couple of runs,’’ said Terry Collins, who did have a talk with deGrom about not showing that kind of frustration on the mound.
The Mets have lost six of seven, are 1-4 on the homestand and 27-36 at Citi Field this season.
And sure, a rookie like Rosario will make a growing-pains mistake, that happens, with his tapping of the glove on Gordon’s grounder. But what about the veteran Cespedes, who once was a Gold Glove outfielder?
Cespedes let Gordon’s pop fly fall at his feet in left in the third inning, it would have been a single but Cespedes was lucky that opposing pitcher Adam Conley was on first and got nipped at second on Cespedes’ strong throw for the force, saving embarrassment on the play.
That embarrassment officially came in that dreadful seventh when Cespedes jogged to the left-field line and did not camp under a soft fly by Christian Yelich. The ball clanked off his glove for a two-base error.
That ball, according to Statcast, had a 99 percent catch probability. The lonely 1 percent is for fly balls lost in the sun.
Cespedes was not available for comment after the game.
It was that kind of de minimis day for the Mets.
“This guy is probably as good a left fielder as there is, he’s got a Gold Glove to show for it, everybody makes mistakes,’’ Collins said. Collins said his message to play the game right, and that includes defense “has come across perfectly clear and they understand it,’’ the embattled manager said. “If plays aren’t made you got to pitch around it once in awhile. They don’t stop trying to make plays when you hang sliders so you got to keep pitching.’’
On this day defense didn’t happen for the Mets. Rosario said he would never make the same mistake again. These are the lessons learned at the major league level.
Cespedes did homer for the Mets’ run in the first, the solo shot was only his fourth of the season at home, and the 16th for his underachieving season. He also had an RBI double in the eighth but Cespedes better improve his all-around game or that fouryear $110 million contract is going to be a heavy burden for the Mets.