ALL ABOUT ‘D’
Mets shortstop Amed Rosario is planning to make big strides with his defense
Ain’t no rest for the wicked and for Amed Rosario, the grind only intensified this offseason. The Mets shortstop is spending his time away from the field, well, on the field. After plowing through the growing pains, Rosario is making every effort to ensure his defensive struggles are in oblivion — starting with a new fielding program in Tampa.
“I’m healthy, I’m happy,” said Rosario through an interpreter on Friday, from his home in the Dominican Republic. “I’ve been working really hard this offseason.”
Rosario said he settled down in Tampa to begin a personalized defensive regimen as soon as the regular season ended. The 24-year-old, having just completed his second full year in the majors, started working with instructor Perry
Hill. The 67year-old Hill has been the Mariners first base coach since the start of the 2019 season, with previous coaching stints for six other Major League teams, including the 2003 world championship Marlins.
Hill has built a system for teaching infield play that Rosario hopes will help turn him into one of the best infielders in the game. Hill has been linked to many other major league infielders’ defensive improvement. Gold Glover and twotime All-Star Dee Gordon has said Hill helped the second baseman with his backhand and angles on ground balls. Other Gold Glovers who attributed their success to Hill include former Mets second baseman Luis Castillo, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, first baseman Derrek Lee and third baseman Mike Lowell.
“I started working on different defensive points where I can improve my game,” Rosario
said. “I feel pretty comfortable with it.”
Just eight months ago, Rosario was being heavily critiqued for his lack of dependability in the hole. In one particularly dispiriting game on May 4 against the Brewers, he committed two errors and a third misplay on bobbled grounders and dropped balls. Rosario brought his ugly error count up to nine by the end of that 18-inning, 4-3 Mets loss at Miller Park. Suddenly, being demoted to the minors or transitioning to the outfield became sour possibilities.
His errors, though, arrived in bunches. Rosario recorded seven errors between April 1624, then encouragingly played in eight straight games without registering one. Three more were committed between May 4-7, but there was nothing but pleasant progress until June 11. Rosario finished the season on a high note, having posted just three errors from July 27 through the end of 2019.
“That week stretch or two week stretch that I had was really, really tough but at the same time I knew that I couldn’t put my head down or feel bad for myself,” Rosario said. “I just knew I had to correct the mistakes I was making and eventually just keep on going and I knew things would get better.”
While others venture to their local gyms to sweat off the heavy holiday food, Rosario has successfully put on some weight this offseason. The shortstop said he has tried to gain weight every year, but it’s been difficult for his 6foot-2, 189-pound frame to retain it. This year, he’s been eating healthier and gaining strength by lifting weights for a more favorable outcome.
“I have to prepare the same way that I was in the second
half of the season,” Rosario said. “Just go out there, have fun, put in the work and really just put the numbers up and prove it.”
Rosario is set to enter his first year of arbitration following the 2020 season. The upcoming year presents a big opportunity for him to build on the performance with which he ended 2019. The 24-yearold hit .319 with 30 RBI on an .804 OPS after the All-Star break and displayed tremendous progress at shortstop. He ranked eighth in the majors and fourth in the National League with a .323 road batting average and placed second in the majors with 104 hits on the road.
He said GM Brodie Van Wagenen has not yet spoken to him about a potential contract extension to lock Rosario with the Mets long term. Rosario said he hasn’t given that moment much thought just yet and added, “When that opportunity or that conversation does arise, that’s when I can actually make a decision and that’s when I’ll feel comfortable talking about it.” Until then, Rosario isn’t looking at the 2020 season with an added sense of pressure. Even when things aren’t going his way, a calm approach is crucial to him.
“The first half of the season was really tough, but I never gave up. I never gave in,” Rosario said. “My mindset stayed put — I was positive the entire time and eventually when you do put in the work and trust the work, you’ll get the results.”
Rosario said he’s spoken to new Mets manager Carlos Beltran several times this winter and the two are in constant communication. Beltran has reached out to Rosario about his play and tips to stay healthy and avoid injury. Rosario views Beltran’s inexperience as a bigleague skipper as a positive, citing his knowledge of the game and openness to learning. Rosario is excited to begin the season with new teammates Dellin Betances and Rick Porcello.
“I feel great about the season,” Rosario said. “We’ve been able to bring in some reinforcements to strengthen the team and I think that if everything goes well, we’ll be in it at the end.”
Rosario recently gave back to his community by helping to clean the local beaches near his home in Santo Domingo. With the help of six-time All-Star Nelson Cruz and other major league ballplayers, Rosario spent hours gathering recyclables and discarding waste. It was Rosario’s second time volunteering for this cause as he sported a black T-shirt that read, “Batting Clean Up.”
“It’s one of those causes where it doesn’t just affect the Dominic Republic,” Rosario said. “It affects all different places where you have beaches and where there are bodies of water that have a lot of messes. I think it’s something that we need to take care of especially in the times that we’re living in right now.”
In just over three weeks, Rosario will be packing his bags for Mets camp in Port St. Lucie. Though he’s excited to hit the diamond, a sense of heartache will linger with the shortstop as he prepares to leave his five dogs behind. Rosario has had his oldest dog since he was 15 years old.
“My pets are pretty much my everything,” Rosario said. “Now that the dates are approaching for spring training, I always get pretty sad because when I’m here I try to spend as much time with them as possible and try to take care of them as much as possible.”
Perhaps Rosario can empathize with Jeff McNeil, who will also be leaving behind Willow, the puppy he adopted at Citi Field this past season.