Mets' Eduardo Escobar relishes 10-year major-league milestone
Mets' Eduardo Escobar gestures as he runs home on his solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning in Game Two of an MLB doubleheader at Citi Field on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
DENVER — Eduardo Escobar knew he was approaching a major milestone — 10 seasons in the majors, a publicly under-the-radar accomplishment that players greatly value — but he didn’t expect what it turned into.
Prior to the Mets’ game Thursday, they surprised him with a quick clubhouse celebration, complete with a bottle of champagne, a short speech from Max Scherzer that offered a few highlights (and lowlights) from his career, and plenty of hooting and hollering from a room full of Mets.
“I was proud that they did that for me,” Escobar said Saturday through an interpreter. “I feel really happy, because this is a dream that every player wants to reach. Once you do things the right way and you’re humble and you treat the game right, you’re able to get what you want out of it.”
Part of the Scherzer-provided overview, which Escobar posted on Instagram: He is only the 1,705th player out of more than 22,000 in major-league history to reach 10 years. He has 140 home runs, including one off Carlos Carrasco and one off Trevor May, and 21 steals (but 15 caught stealings). He has played every position on the field, including pitcher and catcher, but made 76 career errors. And his career earnings will total more than $42 million by the end of next season.
That is quite a resume for a guy who signed with the White Sox out of Venezuela at 17 years old — for just $25,000, a signing bonus that usually indicates a player is not considered much of a prospect.
“And today he is rich as (expletive),” said Scherzer, the most veteran Met with more than 13 seasons of service time.
Escobar said he was a pitcher/centerfielder as a kid, until White Sox scout Amador Arias suggested a move to shortstop. It was part of a philosophy that has come to define his baseball life: Never say no.
“When I started baseball, nobody believed in me a lot,” he said. “I continue working hard, continue to respect the game, play hard every day no matter what. Ten years, that’s unbelievable. Hopefully I play for more.”
The Mets further marked the occasion when Escobar capitalized on their snowout Friday by taking them to the Denver location of Fogo de Chao, his favorite restaurant (which they also visited as a team in Washington). The chain also donated $10,000 to his charity, the Eduardo Escobar Foundation.
As for that champagne? He is saving it.
“I’ll drink it,” he said, “once we become champions.”
Ottavino returns
Adam Ottavino’s two-thirds of an inning against the Rockies was his first time pitching at Coors Field since leaving Colorado after the 2018 season. He was happy to visit — and to get the first-time-back stuff out of the way as the Mets’ first reliever in their first game of the series.
“I wanted to make sure I pitch well, though, so it doesn’t ruin it for me,” he said. “I was excited from the moment we got off the plane.”
So long for now, Scherzer
Max Scherzer is relocating to Florida — where his family lives and where he can work out at the Mets’ facility in Port St. Lucie — as he begins rehabilitating the strained left oblique expected to keep him out 6-8 weeks.
The Mets officially put him on the injured list Saturday. Their other roster moves included calling up reliever Jake Reed from and sending infielder Gosuke Katoh down to Triple-A Syracuse.
Righthander Adonis Medina was appointed as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the Rockies.
Extra bases
Snow covered the playing surface at Coors Field on Saturday morning, but the grounds crew — with the benefit of shovels, miniature plows and a heating system under the field — got it into shape in time for the Mets and Rockies to play two games without issue . . . Tylor Megill (right biceps tendinitis) was penciled in to play catch Saturday, manager Buck Showalter said . . . Showalter on using heat warmers on a day when it was 45 degrees at first pitch: "Two in the buttocks, two in the sleeves, two underneath my feet. I’m a six pack.”
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.
