The lead had dwindled to one.
Closer Jeurys Familia yielded a leadoff single to the pesky Denard Span and was staring at the stern, focused face of former Met Angel Pagan. The speedy Pagan has flourished since his departure from Flushing for two forgettable experiments in Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez, netting a World Series ring in 2012 and about 40 million dollars in contract money from the Giants. He stood in the batters box as an unlikely candidate to record an out, let alone two. Familia dealt his signature sinker at 96 MPH on the outer half which Pagan rolled over to the right side.
The record breaking regular season crowd of 44,466, two-thirds of them Gnome-less and agitated, fell silent on contact.
In years past, particularly 2015, this was a cue for Mets fans to hide their eyes. Countless times the middle infield of the Mets botched tailor-made twin killings and extended innings. The Mets ranked 26th in executed DP’s last year, ahead of only four clubs. Giving teams extra outs is a classic recipe for disaster.
And of course, look at any game log in the World Series vs the Royals if you need further evidence of their defensive woes up the middle.
Even more significant, but often under-discussed, the defense failing to execute induced double play ground balls can needlessly extend the Mets’ young pitchers who were subject to innings limits in 2015 and pitch counts in 2016.
But, Alas Met fans! Do not avert your eyes! The newly constructed middle infield of Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker are on the case!
Walker fielded Pagan’s grounder on the short hop and adroitly executed his back hand push-flip toss to Cabrera who was in an athletic shuffle transition over the second base bag that would make past Met shortstops ankles hurt. Cabrera fired to first to a splitting Lucas Duda to nail the busting Pagan by an eye lash.
The threat was thwarted. And silly you! You missed it, understandably so, because you had covered your eyes.
While the Mets are on pace to turn almost exactly the same number of double plays this year than in 2015, many variables can account for that. The turnover in the rotation to include more strikeout pitchers and the elimination of contact guys like Neise and Gee now make double play chances few and far between.
Converting these chances is tantamount to any team’s success.
Sandy Alderson acquired Walker and Cabrera to shore up the middle infield defense. With all the talk about the potent bats of the newly acquired double play combination, little has been said about the defense.
But the most basic defensive stat pretty much tells the story about the middle infield.
Last year, Mets shortstops and second baseman combined to make 27 errors. This year, through the first month, the Mets have had TWO errors at those spots. What a difference two players not known for their defense can make.
Countless balls that you are used to seeing squirt through the middle of the diamond have been snagged, some in fancy fashion. Throws have been made from knees, from mid-air, and from posteriors to nail base runners.
So, next time the Mets have an opportunity to roll one up, feel free to watch hopefully instead of hopelessly.
