Tag: buck showalter

Mets’ Omar Narvaez to catch Max Scherzer on Opening Day

MIAMI — Omar Narvaez was behind the plate for three of Max Scherzer’s starts this spring and liked the chemistry that was quick to develop between them.

“I know he likes to call some pitches, but I felt even when he was calling his pitches I was right on it with him,” Narvaez said Wednesday after a Mets workout at loanDepot park.

Scherzer is among the pitchers this spring who wore the PitchCom on his glove, allowing him to signal pitches to the catcher when needed, an added option this season with the pitch clock.

Narvaez, a free-agent signing in the offseason, will be behind the plate for Thursday’s opener. Buck Showalter had the option of starting Narvaez or Tomas Nido, whose right-handed bat might not have been preferable against Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara.

“Max doesn’t care, and if he did both these guys he’s comfortable throwing to,” Showalter said. “That worked out well this spring, so you can see why both of them are ranked so high in catching. That is something we feel we have improved in.”


Max Scherzer talks strategy with Omar Narvaez earlier in spring training.
Corey Sipkin for the NY Post

Elieser Hernandez will begin the season on the injured list with a right shoulder strain, according to general manager Billy Eppler.

The right-hander, who arrived in an offseason trade with the Marlins, was shaky in spring training as the Mets considered him for the bullpen and as potential rotation depth. Hernandez has been playing catch.

Eppler didn’t officially announce the Opening Day roster — the Mets have until noon on Thursday — but acknowledged the Mets aren’t bringing a taxi squad to Miami.

Those who were with the team Wednesday (meaning they will be placed on the Opening Day roster) included relievers Dennis Santana and Stephen Nogosek for the final two bullpen openings.

Bryce Montes de Oca was set to undergo surgery on his right elbow to remove loose bodies, according to Eppler.

The right-hander was sidelined midway in spring training with discomfort in his forearm.

The Mets have not divulged a timetable for his return to the mound.

The Mets have won five of their last six season openers and 13 of their last 17.

Their .656 winning percentage on Opening Day is the best among major league teams.

The Mets lost their first eight openers and have posted a 40-13 record on Opening Day since then.

Scherzer will become the first pitcher to start for and against the Mets on Opening Day.

The right-hander was the Nationals’ starting pitcher for the 2015 and ’19 season openers against the Mets.

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Mets’ season ends with whimper in wild-card series loss to Padres

The Mets’ once-promising season came to a crashing halt.

They lost to the Padres 6-0 in Game 3 of the wild-card series Sunday night, eliminating them from the playoffs. They previously lost Game 1 of the series Friday night, and won Game 2 on Saturday.

Joe Musgrove gestures to Mets fans after he was checked for an illegal substance.
Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Chris Bassitt reacts during the second inning.
Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Francisco Lindor strikes out in the fourth inning.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Pete Alonso reacts in the fifth inning.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Mets owner Steve Cohen watches the game from his suite.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Umpires check Joe Musgrove’s ear for an illegal substance.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Padres starter Joe Musgrove pitched seven shutouts innings and gave up just one hit. Mets starter Chris Bassitt, on the other hand, gave up three runs in just four innings pitched.

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Mets turn back clock to their summer of fun

Somehow, it is as if September has represented an anticlimax for the Mets following a thrilling summer replete with full houses, dramatic moments, blaring trumpets, Jacob deGrom’s return and signal victories including two straight at Citi Field against the Yankees, four out of five against the Braves, two out of three from the mighty Dodgers and a rally to remember in Philadelphia. 

The temperature has cooled, the crowds have gotten smaller, the opposition is playing for nothing but pride and future employment opportunities. The Mets have not been able to rise above the elements even while in the midst of a pennant race and seeking to nail down the club’s first postseason invite since 2016. 

“You don’t want to be Captain Obvious,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Our guys don’t have to be reminded about what’s going on and what’s at stake. This is not, ‘Woe is me.’ It’s just the opposite.” 

The lead-in to this one was as opposite from the way the Mets had played through the guts of the season while at one point building a seven-game division lead over Atlanta.

Losing seven of 11 against a motley crew of Nats, Bucs, Marlins and Cubbies had cut the lead to one-half game. The Mets hadn’t been able to get Edwin Diaz into a game with the lead since Sept. 1. 

Everyone wants to give the Mets the benefit of the doubt, but there is no recent foundation of success that facilitates generosity of spirit. Has this been a lull? Has this been a slide? Has this been the beginning of an unthinkable 2007- or 2008-type catastrophic collapse? 

Francisco Lindor celebrates in the dugout after his two-run homer.
Francisco Lindor celebrates in the dugout after his two-run homer.
Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

Or maybe this has represented just a slice of a season in which all but the most exceptional teams endure the ebbs and flows of the 162-game marathon. Check out the Yankees and their parabolic 2022. 

“We’re all trying to solve that riddle. You’re never as good as someone may portray us, so you’re never as bad,” Showalter said as the Mets restored some sort of order with Thursday’s 7-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Roberto Clemente Night — shouldn’t the Pirates have been at home? —while extending their lead to one game over Atlanta. “There are three or four teams that were painted as the ’27 Yankees at some point this year. 

“You want to shorten the bad times and stretch out the good. We’ve done a good job shortening the challenges. This is one. There are a lot of teams that struggled in September and were real good in October. Right now, we’ve got to get to October.” 

If the Mets can cut if off now, the route becomes less treacherous and with fewer potholes. There is no question that the clearest path to the World Series is winning the division, avoiding the best-of-three wild-card round, and setting up a rotation that features deGrom and Max Scherzer at the top. This is what is at stake for the Mets, who are tied in the loss column with the Braves, New York with 17 games remaining and Atlanta 19, including three at their place in the penultimate series of the season. 

Pete Alonso celebrates in the dugout.
Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The Mets looked like they were playing the summer game on Thursday. Carlos Carrasco struck out a season-high 11 batters in six innings in his second straight start in which he allowed just one run. This was noteworthy for the Mets, whose starters had pitched as many as six innings in just five of the 11 immediately preceding games and whose team trailed by at least three runs after three innings in all three of their defeats this week to the Cubs. 

After the right-hander fanned three in the top of the first, the Mets immediately put two on the board on a two-out double from Daniel Vogelbach, who might have experienced whiplash in going from folk hero to zero in 60. That’s what going 5-for-42 with a .119/.260/.119 slash line over a 16-game stretch will do for you. 

Vogelbach was one of three bats added by GM Billy Eppler at what recently has appeared like a Bizarro Deadline. Tyler Naquin entered Thursday 8-for-45, with a .178/.278/.289 slash line over his last 22 games before going 1-for-4. Darin Ruf, who needs hits more than consonants, was 2-for-35 at .057/.125/.057 in his last 17 games. 

The Mets got a couple of hits from Pete Alonso, and another RBI from Vogelbach. Mark Vientos, who later pinch hit for Vogelbach, ripped a run-scoring single for his first major league hit in his 11th at-bat. Francisco Lindor, who idolized Clemente and a number of the previous Clemente Award winners introduced on the field that included Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, hit his 24th home run to establish a single-season record for Mets shortstops. 

“To do it in front of them on this night was special,” Lindor said. “Setting the record is, too, but it would mean a lot more to win the World Series.” 

There is much work ahead. One victory over the Bucs does not a stretch drive make. But though there was a touch of the fall in the air, this seemed like one of those Summer Nights.

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Mets’ Brett Baty has his first rough day in big leagues

PHILADELPHIA — Brett Baty’s long Saturday included zero hits, a pair of errors and a hit by pitch that looked painful.

The Mets’ recent call-up is living his dream, but dreams sometimes have rude awakenings.

The rookie has made an immediate impact, but his fourth and fifth major league games won’t be his favorite memories after the Mets and Phillies split a day-night doubleheader Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

In the opener, an 8-2 Mets win, the third baseman committed his first error in the major leagues in the ninth inning of a mostly finished game. Philadelphia’s Matt Vierling hit a ground ball to Baty for what could have been the game’s final out, but his throw to first pulled Pete Alonso off the bag.

Brett Baty gets hit by a pitch in Game 1 of the Mets’ doubleheader split.
Getty Images

In the nightcap, a 4-1 Mets loss, the Phillies had two runners on base in the sixth inning when Alec Bohm hit a chopper to Baty. The 22-year-old rushed the play — which was made more difficult by Kyle Schwarber being in the vicinity as he ran from second to third — and tried to transfer the ball too quickly from his glove to his hand. The ball popped out of his mitt, and everyone was safe.

Manager Buck Showalter said he felt no need to talk to the rookie, who is “going to be good” and who will “learn from it.” Francisco Lindor had some helpful words.

The shortstop, Baty said, told him: “Just take it slow. Know your runner and know how much time you have.”

Lindor, according to Baty, continued: “He said I have a good internal clock, I just need to focus on catching the ball first.”

The Phillies had the bases loaded, but Stephen Nogosek and Jeff McNeil ensured Baty’s second error did not matter. J.T. Realmuto hit a flare to the right side, and McNeil raced over on the outfield grass, went full extension and saved a few runs with a catch that required every inch of his 6-foot-1 stature.

Baty, who is playing because both Luis Guillorme and Eduardo Escobar are on the injured list, has been impressive, even homering Wednesday on his first major league swing. But extended time in the big leagues will expose holes, and the Mets hope their No. 2 prospect’s defense is not one of them.

The 2019 first-round pick was hit in the leg with a curveball from Philadelphia’s Nick Nelson in the opener and got a look from the trainer as he took first base.

That was Baty’s only time reaching first Saturday, when he combined to go 0-for-7 and made the final out of the nightcap. He represented the tying run, but David Robertson induced a ground ball to third base.

He acknowledged that he is still learning, “but we’re in a pennant race,” Baty said after his first two hitless games as a major leaguer. “So I gotta be better for the ballclub.”

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