Give Luis Rojas credit for Sunday's lineup: Everything went the Mets' way
Albert Almora Jr. of the Mets reacts after his sixth-inning-ending catch against the Nationals with teammate Michael Conforto at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
We’ve ripped the Mets for every lineup decision that goes awry.
A first baseman in leftfield. A DH at third base. Whomever batting wherever. You name it. If the move backfires, they get blasted.
Then a game like Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Nationals comes along, and it’s dang-near perfection. An A-plus in lineup construction.
Not only the names, but the batting order and every spot on the field.
We know that filling in those slots is a collaborative effort between the manager and front office these days, but Luis Rojas always is the one out front taking the bullets, so he gets to take a bow for this one.
Pete Alonso bats second for the first time this season and delivers a pair of walks before a massive 439-foot homer onto the blacked-out landscape in centerfield.
J.D. Davis makes his 2021 cleanup debut and goes 3-for-4, including his fourth career homer off Nationals starter Patrick Corbin.
Jonathan Villar subs for the skidding Jeff McNeil and completes the precision relay on a 9-4-5 putout that cuts down Victor Robles trying for a triple to open the third inning.
Saving the best for last, Albert Almora Jr. — the only Met who had yet to get a start before Sunday — makes a spectacular sprinting, leaping, crashing-into-the-wall grab to rob Kyle Schwarber and deny the Nationals two runs.
Alonso called it "sexy." Taijuan Walker used "sick." Davis settled on "unbelievable."
Every Met was in the right place at the right time Sunday. Across the board. Offensively, defensively. When a team can deploy talent to fit a situation, to customize a lineup that works so well together, it’s next-level for an organization. And the Mets didn’t just stumble into the correct mix to win the swing game of the series. It was far too effective to dismiss as a lucky afternoon in the manager’s chair.
"I felt we had a great plan today," said Alonso, who is hitting .323 (10-for-31) with four homers, six RBIs and a 1.126 OPS in his last nine games. "We were working as a well-oiled machine, so it was really fun to be out there on the field and be connected like that.
"As the year goes on, there’s going to be more games like that. It’s still very young in the season, but every single day we’re learning, and anything we can pick up to benefit ourselves, we’re going to do that."
Some of the gathered intelligence wasn’t necessarily CIA-quality. Coming in, Davis had raked against the lefty Corbin, so sticking him at cleanup was sort of a no-brainer, and it yielded immediate dividends. In the first inning, Alonso drew a one-out walk and Davis hammered a 77-mph hanging slider off the M&M party deck in leftfield.
Davis took plenty of abuse last week for his costly defensive lapses at frigid Wrigley Field, but those can be shrugged off quickly when he’s crushing the baseball the way he is at the moment. He is hitting .423 (11-for-26) with a 1.195 OPS since coming off the injured list on April 17.
The hardest thing Davis had to do with his glove Sunday was corral Villar’s laser relay in the third.
"On my end of it, it was the easiest — just apply the tag," he said. "Those guys deserve all the credit, but I think that was huge. It was a big momentum swing in that part of the game."
All true. But there were other cool moments to follow, and Almora’s gem shined brightest. The fact that Rojas picked the 25th day of the season to give him a start in center made the catch all the more remarkable.
Off the bat, just about everyone at Citi Field thought Schwarber’s blast was headed over the wall — except for Almora. He turned and took off at a full sprint, timing his leap to snag the long fly at the very apex of his jump before colliding with the wall. Slumped on the warning track, he held up his glove, signaling the greatest catch of this Mets early season.
"It’s just all about reaction, and trusting it, and just really catching the ball," he said. "Catching the ball is the priority. If I get banged up a little bit, it’s all right. We have an off day tomorrow. Whatever happens happens."
When you crack the starting nine once a month, Almora knows you have to sell out for plays like that. Which is the amazing thing: Sunday happened to be that one time. And it was arguably the game-turning event, supported by a Mets lineup that performed so well together.
"It is gratifying," Rojas said, "when you see it work the way it did today."
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
