Rojas Acknowledges Mets Need to Improve Defensively

On Monday afternoon, the Mets lost their exhibition game to the Washington Nationals by a score of 9-5. Losing a game in spring training is not a big deal, but the manner in which the team lost may be a cause for concern.

During Monday afternoon’s game, the Mets made three errors. This of course comes just one day after they committed four errors against the Miami Marlins. Defense has been identified by many as a possible Achilles heel for the 2021 Mets, and their play thus far in spring training has done nothing to ease those concerns.

Mets manager Luis Rojas certainly recognizes the team needs to shore things up defensively. According to Tim Britton of the Athletic, the second-year skipper told reporters following Monday’s game:

“That’s something we need to improve. You want to say it’s early in camp and we have room to, but we need to do it right now. We’re going to say we’re a good team, we’ve got to go out there on the field and be a good team. We end up hurting ourselves defensively, and that’s something that can’t happen. We’ve got to keep working hard to be the team we want to be right now in camp. The last two days have been a little tough to watch.”

The problems on defense are not anomalous. The Mets know they are putting a sub-par defensive team on the field, and as Rojas said, they will have to work hard to get the team’s defense to a place where it does not become an impediment to their objective of being a contending team.

To a degree, the odd circumstances in the National League in 2021 contribute to the situation. The lack of a designated hitter (at least for now) weakens the Mets in several positions.

On most days, they will be playing Dominic Smith, a first baseman, in left field. They will have Brandon Nimmo, a left fielder, playing center field, and they will have Pete Alonso at first base and J.D. Davis at third base, both of whom best project as designated hitters.

The numbers do not paint a pretty picture for the Mets’ ability to prevent runs in 2021. Smith has a career DRS of -7 in left field, while Nimmo has a career DRS of -14 in center field. Alonso’s career DRS at first base in -7 (in about one and one-third seasons), and Davis’ career DRS is -19 at third base.

If the DH were to come to the NL in 2021, the Mets could shift Smith to first base, Nimmo to left field, and Alonso to DH. Using each players career DRS numbers, this would result in an overall improvement of 14 runs on the DRS scale.

The Mets’ seven errors in the last two exhibition games were generally not committed by starters or players playing in their projected position. Jordan Yamamoto, Davis, Jake Hager, and Kevin Pillar each committed one of the errors, while Jeff McNeil was charged with three miscues at third base, where he does not project to be playing regularly in 2021.

Pillar was brought in to improve the outfield play, either as a starter or a late-inning replacement. As has been noted many times, his defensive skills have eroded over the last few years. The veteran outfielder hasn’t posted a positive DRS in overall outfield play since 2017.

Looking at the Mets’ 2021 projected starting rotation prior to Noah Syndergaard returning, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker, and David Peterson all pitch to contact. That’s 60% of the rotation that gets outs by having hitters put the ball in play, with a porous defense behind them.

The Mets, Sandy Alderson in particular, seem to endorse a model where defense is sacrificial for offense. The Mets, of course, do have a history of using players out-of-position, remember the days of Lucas Duda in the outfield.

Alderson has always been an “offense first” executive, and nothing has changed as the years have gone by. During an interview on ESPN’s telecast of last Thursday’s Mets and Nationals game, Alderson said, “while some of our players aren’t defensive geniuses, we think that the overall blend that we have is pretty good.”

Unless the DH comes to the NL, the Mets may have to try to outscore their defensive shortcomings. This is not a case of good defenders clanking a few early in spring training. This is part of the plan, in the way that the roster has been constructed. Unless something changes, the Mets will be a sub-par defensive team because they are putting poor defenders on the field.

Rojas may, and absolutely should, target trying to improve his team’s ability to prevent runs. It’s good that Rojas has acknowledged the problem and is showing a sense of urgency to fix it.

The Mets have some better defenders they can use in close games, such as Pillar and Albert Almora. However, it’s likely what we have seen is not temporary nor easily fixed in Port St. Lucie.

Let’s hope the potent Mets offense can overcome the team’s shortcomings on the other side of the ball.