MIAMI — J.D. Davis’ rough defensive night didn’t come back to haunt the Mets.
The third baseman made a pair of lob throws to second base and mishandled a Juan Lagares throw — the error was charged to the center fielder — but the Mets survived Monday in a 7-3 victory over the Marlins.
Manager Mickey Callaway didn’t see a reason for concern, saying Davis had to hesitate on one throw because Robinson Cano was delayed in getting to second base.
“That was a situation where the guy had just shown bunt, so Cano was up and over,” Callaway said. “[Davis] came up to throw and Cano wasn’t quite there, so instead of throwing it and rushing it, you have to go for one, because you are not going to turn two because Cano is out of position defending the bunt.”
In the sixth, Lagares unleashed a throw in an attempt to nail a runner at third base, but the ball hit off Davis’ glove. While the runner at third held, Brian Anderson, who had singled, went to second base on the play and Lagares was charged with the error.
Callaway indicated he plans to give Dominic Smith a start at first base on Tuesday, putting Pete Alonso on the bench for the first time this season. This despite Alonso’s three-run homer in the ninth inning on Monday.
But Smith has been productive in a pinch-hitting role. He singled against the shift leading off the ninth inning and is 2-for-4 with a walk, coming off the bench to start the season.
“He’s been very valuable,” Callaway said. “The big hits he’s gotten, he is going in there late for defensive purposes. He’s playing great and he deserves the chance to go out there tomorrow against [Jose] Urena and do some damage.”
Yoenis Cespedes is working out with the team this week in South Florida — he has been rehabbing up I-95 in Port St. Lucie — and Callaway indicated he expects Todd Frazier and Travis d’Arnaud to visit. Frazier and d’Arnaud played in an extended spring training game Monday. Frazier, who is recovering from an oblique strain, played five innings at third base and took five at-bats. D’Arnaud, coming off Tommy John surgery last April, was behind the plate for nine innings for a second time and batted four times.