Reese Kaplan -- Small Moves Sometimes Bring Big Results

As the Mets begin game three of the Washington Nationals series, it represents the first of the eleven remaining games.  

No one can forget the come-from-behind extra inning swat to victory off the bat of Starling Marte as well as the shutout relief pitching delivered by Jose Butto, Edwin Diaz and Reed Garrett after yet another stellar starting effort from Sean Manaea.  By the time you read this column they will have finished the second game as the quest for October baseball continues.

While people obviously focus on the big things that go right and wrong in the quest of victories, sometimes it is the very small things that take place that should get more attention than they do.  

Take Monday’s game when Luisangel Acuna was inserted late in the game to play shortstop.  While he may never live up to his brother’s run production and All Star capability, how nice was it to take a well above average fielder and place him into the game knowing that not only will errors less likely occur, but he will also know how the game is played to keep runners in check and executing plays accurately?

The same is true for the unusual outfield alignment used in this game.  It is understandable that Marte was benched while he was recovering from a hit-by-pitch a few days ago.  Obviously D.J. Stewart doesn’t play defense on a contending team.  That left the Mets with an outfield of Tyrone Taylor, Brandon Nimmo and Jesse Winker.  It’s not exactly the best of the best, but it worked.  Later in the game Harrison Bader was a late entry as a pinch runner for Mark Vientos who was the last out in the 9th which didn’t exploit his Gold Glove defense, but it was he who scored the 10th inning run when Marte delivered.

Moving forward through these final games you will see Carlos Mendoza making lineup adjustments based upon who needs to play, where various folks hit in the batting order, who is starting each game and how relievers are deployed.  

Take for example Tylor Megill who has pitched far better than anyone has expected...what becomes of him if Kodai Senga or Paul Blackburn or Christian Scott return from the IL?  Does he go to the pen?  Does someone else move there?  Jose Quintana has already volunteered to take relief duty if it was easier for Mendoza that way.

As of right now it would appear that the middle infield is going to be some combination of Iglesias, Acuna and Eddy Alvarez until Francisco Lindor is healthy enough to play again.  We all know the exploits of Acuna in the minors showing better than average home run power, fantastic base running and well above average defense.  Less well known is that late addition to the roster who forced Pablo Reyes into being cut just a few days after arriving.

On the whole the veteran Alvarez was not known as a formidable prospect.  Currently age 34, he didn’t even crack the majors until 2020.  However, this season in Worcester he was on his way to a 20-20 season with 18 HRs and 18 SBs.  The down side was his .247 batting average which is well below his .279 career norm but sometimes a big bump in power contributes to more swings and misses.  Towards that end, he had already posted 109 strikeouts in under 400 ABs. 

It will be interesting to see how Mendoza arranges the pieces on the playing board as the Mets finish up the remainder of the 2024 regular season.  For now without Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Christian Scott, Paul Blackburn, Sean Reid-Foley, Kodai Senga and others on the injured list, he needs to reach deep into his experience as well as gut instinct to figure out a winning formula.