PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets used umpires during live batting practice Thursday at Clover Park and with it came their first experience with MLB’s new automated ball-strike system.
Francisco Álvarez already had success with it, getting a ball call from Jonah Tong overturned.
Tong later lost his own challenge later in his outing.
Expect plenty more challenges from the Mets this spring, according to Carlos Mendoza.
Asked how the team would approach the new rule this spring, the manager said, “Be aggressive. Challenge as much as possible. We want to see who’s good and who’s not [at challenging].”
Their success rate during the spring will impact how the Mets deal with the ABS during the regular season.
“We want guys to be aggressive … before we start putting in guidelines and come up with a game plan,’’ Mendoza said.
Francisco Lindor said he understands Steve Cohen’s decision to not have a captain, telling MLB.com Thursday, “I respect it.”
Cohen said Monday that as long as he owns the Mets, there will be no player with that title.
“There will never be a captain,’’ Cohen said.
Lindor said Thursday he understood the move.
“This is definitely a Steve, front-office type decision,’’ Lindor told the site. “I respect it. At the end of the day … being named captain or not, I’m still going to act the same. This is not something that’s going to make me somebody different. So I respect it. I’m glad he put everything to bed, so that way we can stop talking about this. And move on.”
Over the years, Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso were considered to be options to be the franchise’s first captain since David Wright.
When Nimmo and Alonso left the Mets this past offseason, there was thought Lindor might land the role.
Instead, the shortstop, sidelined following a procedure to treat a stress reaction to the hamate bone in his left hand, won’t be Wright’s successor.
“I’m going to focus on baseball,’’ Lindor said. “I feel like we’ve got leaders [without] captains and all that stuff. The clubhouse is the clubhouse. Let’s just play baseball and let’s focus on winning.”
Michael Tauchman will have a chance to earn playing time in right field after signing a minor league deal earlier this week.
Mendoza said the lefty-swinging Tauchman, who spent last season with the White Sox, is “gonna be part of that competition we have in right.”
With Juan Soto now in left, Carson Benge may have a chance to make the team out of spring training, while Tyrone Taylor and Brett Baty will also be vying for playing time.
As for Benge, who has just 24 games at the Triple-A level, Mendoza has been impressed by “his ability to control the strike zone.”
“One thing I’ve seen here the last few days during live at-bats is his ability to foul off tough pitches, especially when he gets behind in counts,’’ Mendoza said. “For me, that’s a really good sign. He’s able to stay in the fight.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
