New York Mets skipper Luis Rojas spoke to the team’s media corps via video stream on Saturday, touching on a plethora of topics with camp now officially underway.
We received updates on Yoenis Cespedes, Jed Lowrie, Marcus Stroman, and Amed Rosario, the acclimation of the newly-signed orange and blue reserves, and the ever-prevalent adjustment period to these unprecedented times.
Cespedes returns to the field
“He looked really good out there on the field […] He’s moving good. He looked really good on charging ground balls, transferring [and] exchanging footwork, and also going on fly balls. He had a couple of line drives back, line drives in. He looked good.”
When asked about the prospects of Cespedes seeing more than intermittent time in left field, Rojas was hesitant to commit at such an early point in camp.
“Obviously, we’re not there yet – it’s day one – but he looked good. It’s a good first impression seeing him in the outfield, the way he moved,” Rojas said. “You know how Cespedes is. He’s a guy that prepares really well […] It would be a luxury to have him in the lineup. Let’s see where we can use him. We’ll reassess with the performance staff for that.”
Has Lowrie been reassessed?
“No, we haven’t [spoken] yet. It’s still in the transition of that brace, as I mentioned before, but [the performance staff and I] did not talk yet.”
How far along are the pitchers in their preparation?
“The guys they were very diligent communicating with our pitching coaches and the performance staff. Right now they’re gonna do ups and downs in these live BPs that we do,” Rojas said. “They’re one inning or two innings, right now […] We’ll keep stretching out and we’ll be able to pass that information as we keep moving in this camp.”
Stroman/Rosario updates
“Yes. I expect to see them both very soon. We’ve been staggering workouts and the groups for the guys to be coming in at different times. At the same time, we’re not expecting everybody on a daily basis. Everyone has a timeline in their own progression and we’re definitely expecting them to come soon – to see them soon.”
No exact date of arrival for either was given, though Rojas added, “it might happen [Sunday].”
Player safety concerns?
“I engaged a couple of conversations with the guys about the way we’re operating here, and they like it,” Rojas told the media corps. “They like the way we’re doing things, just the staggering of the groups […] We’re doing all that division and all these moving parts to make sure that everyone’s safe.”
“[The players are] embracing it. They like it because it gets them here. They’re safe, which has been our priority coming to camp and they’re able to do their workouts. They’re pleased that we’re doing that. They appreciate all the effort that is put [into it].”
Are we going to see any position battles?
“That’s what camp’s all about. There’s guys that definitely jump at you. They can come in and you have that vision that they’re gonna help the team in a season like this. This is a sprint.”
“We have guys like Melky Cabrera that came into the club. You have Hunter Strickland for the depth in the bullpen,” he said. “Jared Hughes, those guys that come in, you gotta keep an eye on those guys. Those guys have plenty of experience and they’ve been successful at the big league level and they can be great assets for us, too.”
“We’re looking at the whole picture here of the guys we have in camp and we can have the vision that they can help us definitely win games.”
Getting to know the new guys
Rojas noted the Mets’ new additions – Cabrera, Gordon Beckham, Jared Hughes, and Hunter Strickland – came into camp in “good shape,” adding Cabrera told him he was in “the best shape he’s felt in a while.”
Rojas lauded Beckham’s versatility and clubhouse presence and confirmed Strickland threw a bullpen session on Saturday morning, noting a “good fastball.”
Rojas said Cabrera was “definitely a candidate” to assume the newly-adopted NL designated hitter role on this roster.
“This is a guy who switch hits, he’s won a batting title before. This guy definitely has hitting ability and he has some versatility in him, as well – not only in the outfield, he can play first, too. He’s willing to work in both positions during camp, so we’ll see how camp keeps going.”
We’ll keep you posted with updates from Citi Field as Summer Camp trudges on.
