Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Spring Training is now well underway and new Mets manager Buck Showalter is wasting little time in putting his stamp on the team.
With all players having now reported to camp, Showalter has started to put his wealth of experience to use by experimenting with defensive positioning.
Showalter has revealed that Jeff McNeil will be the Mets’ primary second baseman, with the returning Robinson Cano also seeing some time there, and he’s likely to get plenty of reps there once Spring Training games begin.
This likely means Cano will primarily slot into the designated hitter role if he can have a better spring than either Davis or Smith. It also seems like the Mets aren’t going to move McNeil unless a can’t miss deal is out there.
Furthermore, with General Manager Billy Eppler making it clear that it is unlikely the team will seek another bat, J.D. Davis will work mostly at third, although he will also get some reps at first and in left.
Dominic Smith will see time at first and also in left, just like last season. Pete Alonso will be the teams primary first baseman. Alonso has outwardly made his desire to play the field known even though he is the best hitter on the Mets and DH would suit him.
Spring Training is all about experimenting and seeing what you have got to work with, so these likely aren’t the only tweaks we’ll see from Showalter who will use his fountain of baseball knowledge to put the Mets in the best possible situation to succeed heading into the regular season.
