Small ball goes a long way in
On Opening Day at Citi Field, a booming home run or two from Yoenis Cespedes, something akin to Giancarlo Stanton’s eye-popping Yankee debut, would have made for a sexier storyline than singling Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals to death.
But, in truth, it may not have been as significant for the Mets.
After all, there have been a lot of days the last couple of seasons when they couldn’t score even a few runs, never mind nine, without the benefit of a home run.
Yet on this day the Mets won big without going deep all day, and 10 of their 12 hits were singles. So call the 9-4 win over the Cardinals here a case of substance over style, as they took advantage of Martinez’s six walks and cashed them in with solid situational hitting.
Mickey Callaway’s analyticsdriven lineup decisions, batting Noah Syndergaard eighth and Cespedes second, paid dividends as well, as Amed Rosario delivered key hits from the No. 9 spot and Cespedes had plenty of RBI opportunities.
It was just one day, of course, and nobody is declaring the Mets an offensive juggernaut just yet, but it’s also hard to imagine how this one could have been more encouraging for them.
Syndergaard’s 6.00 ERA isn’t what they were expecting, but he paid for a couple of mistake pitches, and suffice it to say his 10 strikeouts — and zero walks — in the first five innings spoke to the dominance of his stuff.
And everything else made for a rocking-chair first day on the job as manager for Callaway.
His only potentially impactful decision was choosing to take out Syndergaard after six innings and 85 pitches, with the Mets leading 8-4 at the time, and three hitless innings from the bullpen assured there would be no second-guessing to start his tenure in the dugout.
And perhaps crucial to the big picture, supporting actors like Brandon Nimmo, Kevin Plawecki, and Rosario all delivered in a big way, offering the Mets hope they won’t be dependent on their big guys in the middle of the lineup.
Afterward, Callaway and the players were saying it all starts with a philosophy of being patient and having a game plan at the plate, something that comes more naturally to some than others.
Adrian Gonzalez, for example: after a poor spring training that raised questions about his age and his history of back trouble, went 2-for-3 on Thursday, including a tiebreaking double to right, and then said everything is different for him when the games count.
“Spring training is not for me,” he said. “I need to be in games where I can actually game plan against a pitcher. I’m a terrible hitter when I can’t game plan, when I can’t focus on getting a particular pitch.”
Likewise, Todd Frazier said he has learned to think along with