One more time, we are reminded that meaningless games are never entirely meaningless to everyone, even in a Mets season that has felt lost since Memorial Day or so, and unrelentingly meaningless since Aug. 1.
They matter to the thousands of camp kids scattered among the Wednesday-afternoon gathering of 30,049 at Citi Field, squealing at every fly ball, and scarfing up ice cream and hot dogs one last time before summer vanishes for good. They matter to the ushers and the cooks and the vendors and the ticket scanners who show up for work every day, regardless of what the standings look like, regardless of whether they’re sore or tired or battling a cold.
And they matter for guys like DJ Stewart, who had one of the best days of his baseball life Wednesday, slamming a pair of home runs (and just missing a third), and starting a bang-bang 9-4-2 relay after digging a ball out of the corner to catch Andrew McCutchen at the plate and end the fifth inning.
Stewart is a guy who understands, better than most, better than he’d want to, how precious opportunities are in the big leagues, who realizes that every time he sees his name on a lineup card is a chance to keep his dreams and his ambitions alive.
“Guys come through being first-round picks and all these great expectations and periods where they may not get where everyone hopes they get to,” manager Buck Showalter said after the Mets closed out a 10-game home stand at 5-5 after an 8-3 thrashing of the Pirates.
“And sometimes, you get a great player after that’s over, because at 27, 28, 29 years old, the world is full of players who really care, figuring things out a little bit. Hopefully, we’re seeing that with him.”
Once upon a time Stewart was a true prospect, the No. 25 pick in the 2015 draft by the Orioles, and he made it to the bigs in three years. He showed occasional flashes with Baltimore, enjoyed bursts of power, but success was fleeting. He hit .213 in 570 at-bats scattered across five seasons, and when you consider some of the awful Orioles teams he played on, it’s telling he could never get a regular foothold.
The Mets invited him to spring training this year, promoted him after he hit 16 home runs in 53 games at Syracuse. At first his presence in a lineup was groan-worthy for Mets fans, because that meant something was wrong with Starling Marte or Tommy Pham or Brandon Nimmo. And if we’re being honest, most Mets fans in this postapocalyptic phase of the season would much rather see his at-bats — and Rafael Ortega’s, and Tom Locastro’s — go to Ronny Mauricio.
Stewart can’t worry about that. This is his shot at salvation, for his season and for his career. He’s playing for a job for next year, with the Mets or elsewhere, and he is officially on a mini-tear — three homers his past two games, 4-for-6 in that stretch, helping reverse a trend that had cost him 100 points in his batting average the past few weeks as he battled wrist soreness.
“The work I’m putting in the cage is starting to pay off,” Stewart told SNY at the end of the game. “Having a little injury bug behind me a little bit, finally getting a little healthy. I’m getting some good pitches to hit and not missing them and putting good swings on them.
“I’m happy to be healthy and helping the team win.”
The rest of the Mets seem to have emerged from the trauma of the trade deadline, and the core had a fine day also: Pete Alonso hit his 36th home run, Francisco Lindor had a two-run single, Brandon Nimmo had a two-out RBI. And Showalter praised those veterans for buying into the daily grind as the Mets play out the string.
But those players — presumably — all will be part of the Mets’ 2024 blueprint.
Stewart has to keep selling himself, to the Mets and anyone else who’s watching. He’ll turn 30 in November. He’s no longer a prospect, will never be a star. But you want to maximize your chances, squeeze every drop possible out of this game. This is his turn to do that. This is his time. Don’t tell him these games are irrelevant. For him, they are everything.
“These guys know what’s at stake, for the offseason and next year,” Showalter said. “They’re all trying to run with it.”
Starting with Stewart, who twice on Wednesday gave the camp kids something they could legitimately squeal about. For them — and for him — that’s as meaningful as you could possibly ask for.
