The Mets are returning to New York down 0-2 in the World Series, thanks to a heartbreaking loss in Game 1 and a positively embarrassing beat-down in Game 2. The Mets suddenly look anemic in almost every aspect of the game. Hitting, pitching, fielding: you name it, and they can’t do it.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. It took the whole team working together to embarrass themselves this badly, and the Mets will need to work together to turn it back around again. But there is one thing in particular that may help them when they return to New York: National League rules. That’s not just because the Mets pitchers hit well and the Royals’ will have to bench their DH – it’s also because Terry Collins can’t seem to set a sensible lineup in an AL park.
So let’s examine the problems. We’ll focus here on Game 1, both because it was closer (and therefore lineup decisions mattered more) and because it featured more mistakes.
Starting Cespedes in Center Field in Game 1 Was Ridiculous
Star Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes has been dealing with a shoulder injury, but he apparently told skipped Terry Collins that he could start in center field for Game 1. “Thanks,” Terry Collins should have said, “but no thanks.”
That’s because the Royals are an excellent contact-hitting team, so the Mets need to field a good defensive lineup. Cespedes, though blessed with a strong arm, tends to play defense with a nonchalant style that can really cost him. You know – like when he missed a fly ball and punted the baseball by mistake to give Alcides Escobar an inside-the-park home run on the very first Mets pitch of Game 1.
The Mets needed Juan Lagares in center on that play. Lagares would have made it, and the Mets would have won (remember, the Royals scored one run in the bottom of the ninth to tie Game 1 and send it to extra innings). That’s not to mention that Lagares actually had a great game at bat, too, once he was put in as a late-innings defensive replacement.
Kelly Johnson is Not a Designated Hitter
Kelly Johnson is great! He was a really good acquisition for the Mets this year, and he’s a solid bench player that deserves a spot on this roster. What he is not, however, is a designated hitter. Terry Collins’ willingness to swap out his DH multiple times per game shows that he doesn’t understand how to use it properly. The DH should be a spot to put a great offensive player with some defensive liabilities. A guy like, say, Yoenis Cespedes. If Collins had started Lagares at center field and Cespedes at DH, he would have gotten the best of both worlds.
Michael Conforto Should Always Be in the Lineup
LF Michael Conforto started both Game 1 and Game 2. That’s good! He’s a great hitter with tons of upside. The Mets need upside. Awesome.
But in Game 1, Terry Collins decided to change to a defensive line-up mid-game in an attempt to preserve the Mets’ lead. He put Lagares (remember him?) in center field, moved Cespedes to left field, and bumped Conforto to the bench.
In an American League park, there is never an excuse to not have Conforto in the lineup. If Terry had taken our first two pieces of advice, he’d have had no problem: Cespedes’ bat would be in there at DH, Conforto would be in left, and Lagares would be in center (or TC could have done what he did in Game 2: Conforto at DH, Cespedes in left, and Lagares in center). Instead, Conforto rode the bench while Terry cycled through anemic designated hitters. He used three in one game: Kelly Johnson, Michael Cuddyer, and Kirk Nieuwnehuis. None of those guys can hit as well as Conforto can. Conforto should never have come out of Game 1.
