As detailed by Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, the Mets saw the good and the bad of Jay Bruce last night as the outfielder showed his hitting prowess, but also his defensive ineptitude at first base.

On the positive side, his bat has looked solid since returning from the disabled on August 24, and last night was another example of that as the 31-year-old went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. The home run came off a left-hander, Rich Hill.

Since returning from plantar fasciitis, back, and hip issues, Bruce has hit .270 with two home runs, three doubles, and four RBI.

However, his defense has not been nearly as pretty, with Bruce failing to get to and catch a popup that went down the first base line. Instead, Austin Barnes drove in a run later in the same at-bat on an error by Todd Frazier.

Bruce admitted that he should have made the play, but that a situation like that is just an example of why the idea that anyone can play the position is a fallacy. However, he is up for the challenge.

“I feel like I should catch that, but I haven’t had any experience doing that. It’s experience. There are so many nuances.”

“People think you can just throw anybody over at first base. I don’t think that’s true. I think the first baseman can make a big difference on a team. If I am going to play first base, I want to be able to make a positive difference. And I think that I can.”

On the more positive side of things, Mickey Callaway can clearly tell he’s back on the offensive side of things.

“Offensively, he’s looked great. I’m sure he feels like he’s in a really good spot.”

As of now, it is expected that Bruce will get a lot of time at first base next season, which could effectively block  Peter Alonso and Dominic Smith from ever taking over as next year will only be the second year of a three-year, $39 million contract he signed last offseason.

The first year, as a whole, was not to his liking from his or the team’s perspective, as Bruce intimates.

“I’d be lying to you if I told you that I didn’t want a restart on this year — just push the reset button and move forward. But you can’t. What’s happened, happened. And I want to hold up my end of the bargain. I want to be out there and play every day, and do what I can to help this team.”

On the year, Bruce has hit .221/.297/.349 with five home runs and 21 RBI while playing right field where he has -4 DRS and a -0.3 UZR and first base where he has zero defensive runs saved and a 0.4 UZR.