In one dugout was the kind of first base torch-passing that will be referenced for decades, a seamless transition from an aging star to a younger version.
In the other dugout was the kind of first base torch-passing that sees the torch get fumbled to the ground and sets the whole place on fire.
With Matt Olson, who assumed the position of Freddie Freeman so naturally, watching and homering for Atlanta, Jorge Polanco again did not look much like Pete Alonso.
Because he is signed through next year, Polanco still has time to endear himself to his team and the team’s fans, but with each game and each at-bat right now he is making one of David Stearns’ key offseason decisions look a bit worse.
Polanco’s struggles continued Wednesday afternoon, when he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and, perhaps most tellingly, opted for a sacrifice bunt rather than swinging away in what became a 3-2 Mets win over the Braves in the opening end of a doubleheader at Citi Field.
Since returning from nearly three months on the injured list with both wrist and ankle issues, Polanco entered the nightcap 4-for-41 (.098) with three singles and a double.
He had logged at least one strikeout in eight of his past nine games, a stretch in which he was punched out 13 times in 29 at-bats. He has not swung like Alonso.
Every one of those at-bats has come as the designated hitter, the 33-year-old unable to play the field because of his Achilles bursitis. He has not played defense like Alonso.
In his final at-bat, with the bases loaded in the seventh inning against former Met Danny Young, Polanco swung through a sweeper and heard loud boos — even following a frame in which his team took the lead — all the way to the dugout. The fans, too, are not treating him like Alonso.
Andy Green said Polanco is still searching for his timing after his 12th game back from the IL — and reminded reporters of the type of player Polanco has been in his career.
“He squared up [Tarik] Skubal for two home runs in the postseason last year,” the interim manager said of Polanco’s memorable Game 2 of the ALDS with the Mariners. “He is ridiculously good. And he hasn’t been able to find his timing or rhythm right-handed [or] left-handed.
“He’s obviously dealt with injuries all year, so he’s someone that we know we’re one swing away. We’d all like that swing to get here.”
That the Mets allowed Alonso to walk to Baltimore for five years and $155 million is defensible considering a projected downturn and defensive concerns. That they replaced him with an older infielder with a history of injuries and virtually no experience at first was more curious and, at least in Year 1, has backfired. Polanco has not been healthy or productive, and neither has their Plan B in Mark Vientos.
Polanco is a year removed from establishing himself as a postseason hero and homering 26 times with an .821 OPS. With better health, he has time to rebound.
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But his confidence, too, might need to rebound, considering his greetings in Queens and considering his sixth-inning at-bat, when he followed a leadoff single from Jared Young with a sacrifice bunt, a move seldom seen in today’s game and rarely from a slugger capable of inflicting damage. Young did not come around to score.
After the game, Polanco was not made available for an interview because he had too much to do in the training room, a Mets official said.
“I know he’s grinding on it harder than anybody is, but we do have a ton of confidence that moment is coming,” Green said, “where unleash the floodgates and the Polanco who he’s always been will be there.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
