The New York Mets lost some serious power hitters this offseason, but on Opening Day they showcased their new approach.
There are times when modern baseball turns into a contemporary version of home run derby, with hitters swinging for the fences in what amounts to an all-or-nothing approach.
But the New York Mets are taking a different approach this season, and they showcased it on Opening Day against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets didn’t exactly go small-ball to get their 11-7 win, but they did use making contact as a surprisingly effective weapon to help force nine walks by Pirates hurlers.
It helped enormously that starter Paul Skenes was uncharacteristically wild, but don’t discount the approach. The Mets have a lineup full of hitters who can put the ball in play when necessary, and new third baseman Bo Bichette provided a couple of textbook example of how this works.
Bichette struck out three times, and normally that’s a bad day, even if he did get the Mets on the board early with a sacrifice fly. But Bichette fouled off a two-strike fastball that was clocked at 98 mph before he drove in that first run, and later in the game he saw 13 pitches against Pirates reliever Isaac Mattson in an at-bat that became almost comical as Bichette fouled off pitch after pitch before finally succumbing.
“Just to see it out of the gate against one of the best pitchers in the league,” manager Carlos Mendoza said in a story written by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, “it goes to show you we’ve got some dangerous guys.”
The bottom of the lineup eventually provided the power surge, with rookie right fielder Carson Benge and catcher Francisco Alvarez eventually going yard back-to-back in the seventh, but it was the relentlessness of a deep lineup that came through as the biggest strength, even if it was just one game.
“It’s the first game, but I think it could give us a glimpse into what we want to be as a team,” said Bo Bichette, who wound up playing crucial roles in multiple Mets rallies despite finishing hitless. “Getting down early, coming back against maybe the best in the game? That’s good stuff, so we’ll try to keep it going.”
It won’t always be like this, of course. Oneil Cruz of the Pirates put on a clinic about how not to play center field, and the walks made it easy to pile up runs. For one day, though, the Mets offense looked the way it was supposed to look according to the offensive plan, and it will be interesting to see if the lineup can stick to this approach going forward.