While Luis Rojas is often under a microscope when it comes to the moves he makes as manager of the New York Mets, one decision in Game 1 of the doubleheader yesterday ultimately helped his club pickup a 4-3 walk off victory against the Philadelphia Phillies.
As the game went into extra innings, Rojas decided to make a double switch bringing in reliever Trevor May to pitch and pinch hitter Kevin Pillar to play center field in the eighth.
The thought process behind this move was that it would allow speedy shortstop Francisco Lindor to be used as the base runner on second to start the next inning, which Rojas says was a topic of discussion amongst the coaching staff before the previous frame had ended.
"We started talking about doing the double switch before the inning was over, so Lindor could start at second,"-Rojas
Underrated move for the day by the manager
— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) April 13, 2021
The polarizing extra inning rule certainly changes the way a manager handles these games, and yesterday was an example of wrinkle to the rule we haven’t seen before.
If the pitcher’s spot makes the last out in the previous inning, they will not have to be the baserunner that is placed on second to start in the extra innings. Instead it is whoever batted previous to that spot that starts the inning on second. In this case by making the double switch, that was Lindor.
With Lindor on second to start the eighth inning, this decision saw an instant return on the Mets’ investment as Pete Alonso smacked a game-tying RBI single to left field. Without Lindor’s wheels, the runner may not have been able to score on the hit. But since their shortstop has above-average speed, he made it home with ease.
Rojas went on to praise Jonathan Villar, who drove in the game-winning run to walk it off three batters later. And according to Rojas, this was not an easy at-bat for Villar against Phillies reliever Hector Neris.
Alas, Villar battled to a 3-2 count before shooting the game-winner into the left-center field gap to send everybody home — and most importantly — put his team on top as victorious.
“It’s great to see. Big win,” added Rojas.
In 2020, Major League Baseball introduced a pair of new changes that now seem to be here for the long haul with the extra inning rule and seven-inning doubleheaders. The Mets did not fare well in either scenario last year, as they went 1-4 in games that went into extra innings and were 2-4 in seven-inning games.
Now after sweeping their first doubleheader of the season, the Mets have gotten their season back on track in a day’s work. As they entered today holding a slight lead over the Phillies for first place in the NL East.
