There aren’t many times Mets manager and noted baseball savant Buck Showalter can be criticized for his strategic decisions.
I’ve covered about 500 games in which he has managed and can never once recall even questioning one in-game choice, much less criticizing one.
But this decision Saturday defied logic. This one ranged somewhere between a head scratcher and completely out to lunch.
Showalter allowed Mets closer David Robertson to pitch to Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the score tied in the ninth inning. There were two outs, the go-ahead run was at second base, Cavan Biggio was on deck and first base was open.
Inside the Blue Jays’ clubhouse there was some shock over the decision to pitch to Guerrero. While Guerrero was on a 2-for-14 skid going into the at-bat and had been “grinding” lately, as one teammate put it, he is one of the most feared hitters in the American League, and for good reason.
Me, I was simply stunned.
The only things Guerrero and Biggio have in common are that they share a clubhouse and both their dads are Hall of Famers.
Guerrero is a star who would have won an MVP two years ago if not for the impossibly great Shohei Ohtani. Biggio was batting .181 and was only in the cleanup spot because he had pinch run for Brandon Belt an inning earlier.
Anyway, Guerrero delivered a rocketed ground double down the third-base line to score George Springer from second and the Blue Jays beat the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field. That was the first real hurting anyone has put on Robertson all year. Biggio followed by striking out, but the damage was done.
“Robby got ahead of him. I thought he could expand the zone,” Showalter said in explanation later. “I trusted Robby there. He hit a ground ball where [third baseman Brett Baty] couldn’t catch it.
“I considered [walking Guerrero], obviously,” Showalter added. “It didn’t work out so it’s something that’s going to be critiqued. I have a lot of confidence in [Robertson] that he could stay out of the zone. He got a groundball where he couldn’t catch it.”
Robertson didn’t question the decision. Not for a second.
“It’s not like anyone is an easy out in this league,” Robertson said. “It’s on me for not making a quality pitch.” (For the record, it was a curveball that got too much of the plate.)
Showalter also mentioned the truest and most obvious thing of all, which is of course that “there’s not much margin for error.” That’s a euphemism for what’s plain to all: the Mets just aren’t hitting.
In fact, they have a lineup of underachievers, except for Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Mark Canha, who are doing about as expected, plus impressive rookie Francisco Alvarez.
As a team, they just aren’t hitting, certainly not as well as last year, and not as well as they can. The Mets were 20th in OPS and 20th in slugging heading into the game, and 18th in runs. Last year, they were a top-five offense with virtually the same hitters.
Daniel Vogelbach is the one who’s drawing the wrath of the fans, but while he hasn’t been doing nearly enough hitting for someone whose title and job description demands it, he is far from alone. Vogelbach, who drove in the Mets’ only run of the game with a double (and nearly had another with two men on later), totes a .315 slugging percentage.
Fans may see him as disposable, and not just because of his comparatively puny salary. He doesn’t have the history of the others, and fans can see Eduardo Escobar heating up, Syracuse star Ronny Mauricio putting up big numbers at Triple-A and even original starting catcher Omar Narvaez not far from returning. Fans can envision a possible change at DH, and may even hope to effect that change.
Meanwhile, the others who are struggling are ingrained in their spots — though some of them are starting to hear it, too.
Francisco Lindor, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is now hitting .212, remains one of the game’s very best defensive shortstops, and a $341 million contract says he isn’t going anywhere.
Starling Marte has a history of excellence, and is a $78 million man.
Jeff McNeil is the defending batting champion and he’s got a $50 million salary that says he’s here for good.
They are all established stars, so there’s nothing to do but wait, and hope.
But the reality that there’s no margin for error means the Mets needed to prevent that runner from scoring, even if it meant putting the back runner on. That open first base was an appealing place to put Guerrero, whom the Yankees can attest is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game.
Guerrero wouldn’t say he was surprised. He just smiled when asked.
“That’s what happened. He pitched to me, and thank God I hit it,” Guerrero said. “That’s baseball.”
That’s baseball, all right, but it’s certainly not any brand of baseball we expect from Showalter.
