After the Mets lost Game 3 of the NLCS in demoralizing fashion to the Dodgers at Citi Field — in a 2-0 contest that became a blowout late after a whole bunch of Mets fly balls died on the warning track early — it was understandable that lots of fans were upset.
And their mood was not helped shortly after the game, when Carlos Mendoza said there would be no big lineup changes for Game 4 after New York was shut out for the second time in the series.
Francisco Alvarez, who is some combination of flailing and in-between, will again be behind the plate.
Jose Iglesias, who has had a very poor postseason offensively, will be at second base.
J.D. Martinez, who didn’t play in Game 1 or Game 2 and who went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks in Game 3, will be the DH.
One of the reasons Mendoza gave to reporters after the game was that he was simply sticking with the guys who got the Mets to this point.
While that is a nice sentiment, and certainly has at least some truth to it, that’s not the main reason the Mets aren’t making wholesale changes ahead of Game 4.
This team, managed by Mendoza and overseen by David Stearns, never hesitated this season to either bench players who are underperforming or move guys down in the lineup if they were struggling (see Alonso, Pete).
If the Mets were facing a starting pitcher in Game 4 who struggled against left-handed hitters, they would very likely be trotting out Jesse Winker at DH and possibly Jeff McNeil at second base.
But they’re not.
They’re facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who — despite being a right-hander — has dominated left-handed batters this season while struggling against righties.
During the regular season, Yamamoto held left-handers to a .193/.258/.267 triple slash, while righties hit .263/.291/.453 against him.
That nearly 200-point difference in slugging is enormous, and makes the Mets going righty-heavy tonight — despite the struggles of Iglesias and Martinez — the right move.
What about Alvarez?
The young catcher has looked quite bad during the postseason, and that continued in Game 3, as he struck out three times.
But the alternative to Alvarez is backup Luis Torrens, who hasn’t gotten an at-bat since Sept. 30.
Beyond the offensive side of things — and perhaps more important — is how comfortable Game 4 starter Jose Quintana is pitching to Alvarez. Messing with that would not be wise.
And as the Mets saw with Alonso, when his massive homer in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee sent New York to the NLDS, all it takes is one big swing for a struggling hitter to make his mark. Alvarez still has a chance to do that — and he’s stepped up in pressure-packed moments before.
With all of the above being said, if Martinez doesn’t do much early on Thursday, it would behoove the Mets to turn to Winker once Yamamoto is out of the game and the matchup makes sense.
The same can be said as it pertains to Iglesias, who can be replaced by McNeil.
Perhaps the Mets erupt early and make all of this moot. Either way, their initial reasoning for sticking with this lineup is sound.
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