Mets' James McCann ready for first shot at catching Max Scherzer this season
Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz reacts after the Mets won a game against the Phillies on Thursday in Philadelphia. Credit: Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — A month into their first season as Mets teammates, Max Scherzer and James McCann have spent all of one inning as batterymates — and that came eight years ago.
On Sept. 20, 2014, when the Tigers faced the Royals, Scherzer was the defending Cy Young Award winner pitching in an intense pennant race. McCann was a wee rookie, a veteran of several days in the majors, who entered late in the game and wound up catching Scherzer’s final frame.
And that has been it until now — until Friday. Manager Buck Showalter said McCann will be behind the plate for Scherzer’s start against the Phillies (weather pending, with lots of rain in the forecast). Scherzer has been paired with Tomas Nido in his previous five games.
“Over the course of 162 games, every pitcher has got to be able to throw to both catchers,” McCann said. “Max and I have talked a lot. There’s nothing that replaces that in-game experience with a guy, but hopefully we can be on the same page as soon as possible.”
McCann added that he has tried to get to know Scherzer as a pitcher during their mutual days off. Seven times in the Mets’ 28 games, both have been out of the lineup, affording the pitcher and catcher opportunities to talk shop in the dugout. McCann hasn’t caught Scherzer in any sort of game situation since a scrimmage early in spring training.
Friday will, naturally, be a big step in their relationship.
“We’ve really been able to talk — just ways he likes to sequence, things he thinks about when he’s pitching, little things like that,” McCann said. “But a lot of it does come from the in-game experience, realizing something they like or don’t like.”
Lindor the ‘victim’
Entering the Mets’ series with the Phillies, Francisco Lindor was stuck in an 0-for-15 slide, part of a larger 5-for-39 funk (one extra-base hit) over the past 10 games. That sunk his season slash line to .243/.336/.408.
“He’s such a talented young man that you know what he’s capable of,” Showalter said. “When it doesn’t happen every at-bat, you’re almost a victim of your skill set. He does so many things for us. Sometimes it’s not always like it’s going to be [going well].”
But if the Mets are winning, Lindor is happy, personal trends be damned — a quality that reminded Showalter of Don Mattingly, the star of his early 1990s Yankees teams.
“There’s a real sincerity about it from a team standpoint,” he said. “The baseball gods always pay you back if you keep that mentality.”
Lindor was hitless in his first three at-bats Thursday night before hitting a two-run homer in the ninth that started Mets' seven-run rally in 8-7 victory.
Hello again
The Mets are familiar enough with the Phillies and their pitchers — squaring off for their third series in less than a month — that they are able to use their game-planning meeting in part to delve into some of the smaller details instead of reviewing that night’s starting pitcher yet again.
“It actually gives us some time to talk about some other things, that we might want to shore up or something,” Showalter said. “Might be something as simple as the foul ground here or the fence structure or the way a ball caroms. Just little things.”
Extra bases
Reliever Stephen Nogosek is with the Mets as a member of the taxi squad. He has a 1.69 ERA in seven appearances for Triple-A Syracuse, striking out 13 batters in 10 2/3 innings . . . Showalter on the bullpen, sans Trevor May (stress reaction in his right arm): “Somebody is going to get a chance to emerge.” . . . From the Buck Showalter Department of Busting Chops: During the “entertainment” portion of Mets’ pregame hitters meeting Thursday, they surprised Manhasset native and assistant coach Danny Barnes by showing video of him giving up home runs to Lindor and Brandon Nimmo. Barnes was a Blue Jays reliever from 2016-18.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
