CINCINNATI — A.J. Ewing studied his surroundings upon the Mets’ initial arrival to Great American Ball Park this week and found the whole situation “weird.”
The rookie outfielder grew up about 35 miles from here, in Springboro, Ohio, and attended a handful of Reds games in his youth. By his own admission, he wasn’t a huge fan of the team but took a special interest in watching Joey Votto perform.
“I watched some cool games here,” Ewing said Tuesday before the Mets faced the Reds. “I watched Homer Bailey throw a no-hitter when I was 8 years old. That is the one I remember pretty vividly.”
This week, it’s Ewing’s friends and family — a few dozen strong — in the house to watch him.
There is plenty to like. Ewing’s defensive ability and baserunning have been evident since his arrival from Triple-A Syracuse on May 12, but lately his offense has caught up with the rest of his game.
Ewing entered play with a .289/.340/.444 slash line in June that raised his OPS to .706. His most recent big game offensively was Sunday, when he homered as part of a three-hit afternoon in helping the Mets complete a series victory over the Braves. Over his last 12 games entering play, he had produced an .858 OPS.
“He takes really good at-bats,” Juan Soto said. “Most of the time he’s in 3-2 counts, he’s battling and he’s making pitchers sweat, that is all we can ask for.”
The 21-year-old is certainly seizing the opportunity presented after Luis Robert Jr. was placed on the injured list with lumbar spine disc herniation. That injury left the Mets with a need in center field that Ewing has filled.
Ewing has joined another rookie, Carson Benge, to help give the Mets a promising young outfield. Even Ewing isn’t sure he would have foreseen this in spring training when he was in camp with the major league time for the first time.
“I honestly have no idea what I would have thought,” Ewing said, when asked if he would have believed in March that he would be playing every day for the Mets. “I did think I was going to make an impact this year, but I was just blessed with opportunity, and I am taking it in.”
The Mets, who began the day 32-40 and last in the National League East, certainly appreciate Ewing’s contributions to a lineup that has searched for answers.
“We know that he’s going to control the strike zone and he’s got the ability to put the ball in play,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But I think just his ability to make adjustments; that is the biggest thing.”
Ewing credits his interactions with Soto for helping him develop.
“The way he prepares for games, it’s just ultrafocused, and it’s intense, and he takes that straight into the game — the intensity of his at-bats,” Ewing said.
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Ewing’s competitive nature is evident to his teammates.
“He’s a very talented player and what I love about him is his ability to compete every day,” Bo Bichette said. “He shows up every day and competes his butt off in the box and he’s got everything he needs for sure to get better. It’s fun to see him getting better right now and through the rest of this year, but he’s going to kind of figure out a lot over the next couple of years.”
Soto, who is signed through 2039, could foresee a long and fruitful partnership in the outfield with Ewing and Benge.
“It’s going to be fun to watch,” Soto said. “It’s going to be impactful.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
