Cano: Hits will start to fall — in bunches
Robinson Cano’s bones tell him there is rain in the forecast.
“When [the hits] fall, one day it’s going to be a bunch, like raining,” the Mets second baseman said. “You have got to keep grinding, and I have been in this situation before where I hit a ball hard and what else can I do?”
Cano enters Friday’s game in St. Louis with an abysmal slash line — . 192/. 253/. 329 with two homers and eight RBIs — but is soothed somewhat by the fact his contact has been solid lately.
That included Wednesday’s game against the Phillies, in which he squared up three balls, but still finished 0-for-4. A day earlier, he had shown signs of life with a 2-for-5 performance. As much as the hard-hit balls have been a positive sign for the 36-year-old Cano, he says he will take a bloop single over a hard-hit out any day of the week.
“I would rather get the hit,” Cano said. “It doesn’t matter the point because you hit it hard [for an out], you don’t get on base. You get a hit, a blooper or whatever, you get on base for the team. Of those three I hit hard [Wednesday], if two of them fall for a double, it would be a different game.”
Cano is hardly the first former Yankees star player to struggle upon his arrival to the Mets. After signing a four-year deal worth $60 million with the Mets before the 2014 season, Curtis Granderson endured a brutal start with the club before enjoying a productive run in Flushing.
Cano, like Granderson was at the time, is adjusting to different surroundings and pitchers in the National League. He is taking his slump in stride.
“I know as a hitter, for me, if I hit it hard [and get out], I never get mad because that is part of the game, but you want to go out and get on base for the team,” Cano said. “If you have a quality at-bat it don’t mean anything [if ] you are out, but also at the same time I don’t want to say I am pleased with that, but what else can I do? I can’t guide it, I just can hit it.”