FAB CALLAWAY
Mickey’s Mets hit all the right notes in opener
M ICKEY Callaway remains undefeated as a professional manager, and for that, he can enjoy his off day Friday by reveling in the fact that he put the right guys in the game. When it comes to scrutinizing the smallest sample size, however, what stands out here is that he took the right guys out of the game. The Mets continued their historic Opening Day dominance with a 9-4 beatdown of the Cardinals on Thursday at Citi Field, lifting the franchise’s first-day record to an industry-best 37-20. In their past 25 season launches at home, dating to a 4-2 victory over the Expos on April 6, 1971, the Mets own a ridiculous 22-3 mark. “Obviously, you want to get all of the firsts out of the way,” Callaway said. He was referring to his lineup, as everyone besides starting and winning pitcher Noah Syndergaard reached base at least once, yet he easily could have been discussing himself. With the Mets looking to bounce back from last year’s 70-92 disaster, and with Callaway looking to get his reign off to a positive start, no one in Flushing wanted to contemplate any sort of vigil for the initial victory of 2018. The Mets made mincemeat out of Cardinals ace Carlos Martinez, knocking him out in the fifth inning, by virtue of a lineup that had Brandon Nimmo leading off, Yoenis Cespedes hitting second, Kevin Plawecki catching and Amed Rosario finishing things off in the ninth slot, all of which paid off. A cheery Callaway said afterward, “It took all of spring training to try and figure that one out. I don’t have that much time on the next one.”
If the lineup displayed Callaway’s abilityy to think ahead through a new-school prism, then the pitching moves showcased his knack for thinking modernly during the game, on his feet. Through six innings, with an 8-4 lead against the Cardinals, who should have one of the National League’s better offenses, Syndergaard had thrown a reasonable 85 pitches, giving him some rope to keep going. When the right-hander’s turn to hit arrived in the bottom of the sixth, however, Callaway lifted him for pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores.
“I felt like he had done his job,” Callaway said of Syndergaard. “We wanted to get some of our relievers in the game, so there was no second thought there at all.”
“I think that was the right managerial decision, just because we were up by a lot,” said Syndergaard, who also mentioned the chilly weather (a first-pitch temperature of 50 degrees) and long stints in the dugout as the Mets sent eight men to hit in the second and 10 in the fifth. “And … get the bullpen in there to get them some work.”
Converted starter Robert Gsellman struck out the side in the seventh, new Met Anthony Swarzak recorded a 1-23 eighth and not-closer closer Jeurys Familia worked around a two-out walk to Mets-killer Yadier Molina (whose two-run, second-inning homer off Syndergaard gave St. Louis a brief, 2-1 edge) to put this one in the books (thanks, Howie Rose). In addition to taking it easy on Syndergaard, Callaway found favorable assignments for three guys who could benefit from relatively lowleverage confidence boosts.
Prior to the game, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson commended the spring-training work of Callaway, whom the team hired despite a notable lack of firsthand experience with him.
“The thing that I’m most happy about iis the impressions we had as far back as November have really been sustained over a long period of action, as opposed to talk,” Alderson said. “So [we’re] still excited and still looking forward to today and the rest of the season.”
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; aftera all, the last Mets manager to win hhis debut on the job was Jeff Torborg [yeesh] in 1992. Yet after what you saw Thursday, you’re looking forward to seeing what Callaway thinks and does next, aaren’t you?