New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway spoke to the press before tonight’s series opener against the Washington Nationals at home.
He touched on a variety of subjects, including the return of Jay Bruce and where he fits into the team’s plans moving forward, as well as what the ripple effects could be with Bruce set to see more time at first base.
When asked about Bruce’s return and how the team plans to manage the situation, Callaway, as he normally does, didn’t commit to anything concrete and deferred to how the scenario unfolds.
“We’ll just have to see how much he fatigues the first few games. He’s gonna get to play as much as he possibly can and still stay healthy and stay effective.”
As far as Bruce’s expected playing-time and where, exactly, he’s going to play, Callaway was considerably more direct in his response.
“A lot of it is going to depend on who’s pitching that day, what our lineup consists of. The one thing I do know is that we want to see him at first base quite a lot.”
“I think we need to make some kind of determination going into the offseason whether or not it’s feasible to bring him back as a first baseman next year, or [as] a guy that’s gonna play both, or [as] a guy that’s gonna be a right-fielder,” he said. “So we’re definitely going to play him at first quite a bit moving forward.”
Callaway was asked by a member of the press corps, “if Bruce shows you that he is comfortable at first, could he emerge as the full-time guy there next season?”.
He made no qualms about where he envisions his 31-year-old, lifetime outfielder in the future.
“I definitely think that’s a possibility. I think that’s one of the things we need to find out this last part of the season.
The Mets figure to have quite a logjam at the first base position next season.
With Bruce presumably splitting time between his natural right-field position and his new spot at first, Callaway gave an even clearer look at his plans for him, as well as for Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo.
“We know that [Conforto and Nimmo] can both go out there and play that position [center field] if we need [them] to. I think with the loss of [Yoenis] Cespedes, ideally, those guys in the corners would make more sense for us.”
“And I think that if, moving forward, we can keep those guys at the corners, we’ll have Lagares in the future [and] we have the ability to go sign people in centerfield,” he said. “Jackson has done a fantastic job out there in my opinion, and we feel like probably the best team with those guys at the corners especially that [Cespedes] is gonna be out so long.”
Dominic Smith, who figures to be one of the players vying for spots at both first and in left, was sent down to Triple-A this afternoon. Mickey Callaway spoke bluntly about Smith.
“He’s gotten his work in. It seems like he’s made some significant adjustments in the way he works and the things he values, so he’s done a great job in that aspect.”
The question becomes if the Mets prefer Bruce at first base with Conforto and Nimmo in the corners, then what exactly is the plan for Peter Alonso? You know, the guy that’s one of the best first base prospects in baseball, has been an elite offensive player this year and is currently in Triple-A.
