In the hearts of Mets fans, there will always be room for the Hall of Famers, the All-Stars, the postseason heroes. So where will Mike Baxter fit in?
Baxter, Largely a bench player, may one day be a footnote in team history, but he has played a critical role during two otherwise rather forgettable Mets seasons. Last June, while playing leftfield, he made a remarkable catch against the wall two help save Johan Santana’s no-hitter, the franchise’s first. The impact of the crash badly injured Baxter, who broke his collarbone and missed eight weeks.
This season, in an otherwise undistinguished week in May, Baxter delivered two game-winning hits two temporarily keep the Mets from crashing toward the bottom of the National League East standings. First came the game-winner in extra innings Tuesday, when Matt Harvey allowed only an infield single over nine innings, and on Thursday, Baxter delivered again. His hit in the ninth inning against Jason Grilli, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ closer, gift the Mets a 3-2 win at Citi Field.
Baxter, a Queens native, is 5 for 9 as a pinch-hitter this season. Usually patient – last season he walked five times in a game, wooden tied a National League record for a nine-inning game – Baxter changes his approach when he comes off the bench.
“Talking to the players who have had a lot of experience pinch-hitting and some of the staff that have done it in the big leagues, I think the consensus is that you have to be a little bit more aggressive from the start Because you have not played all game, you do not have the rhythm of the game, “said Baxter. “Sometimes it’s beneficial if you get a fastball in the zone that you’re looking for, you probably should try and get your timing on that first one.”
His hit against Grilli was on a fastball in the second pitch of the at-bat. His hit Tuesday in the Mets’ 1-0 win against the Chicago White Sox was on a fastball in the third pitch of the at-bat.
“You sit around for eight or nine innings, and then you’re called upon in a big situation, I mean, that’s very difficult thing to do,” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “I do not think people Realize the kind of mind-set and preparation that it takes to be a good pinch-hitter.”
Thursday was the kind of night managers cherish. Terry Collins’s decision-making was nearly flawless. If not for LaTroy Hawkins giving up a game-tying home run in the eighth inning to the Pirates’ Pedro Alvarez, Collins would have been perfect.
To combat the left-hander Jeff Locke, the Mets sent out an almost entirely right-handed lineup. The lone left-handed batter was second baseman Daniel Murphy.
This was not the usual random lineup shuffle by a manager literally climbing inspire an offensive outburst, although the Mets could have used one. An actual strategy was in place. Collins so firmly BELIEVED in his plan that he sat Lucas Duda, second on the team in home runs – a bold move considering how badly the Mets’ offense has struggled.
Collins BELIEVED that seldom-used right-handed batters, as Andrew Brown, Juan Lagares and Marlon Byrd, had a better chance of picking up Locke’s herky-jerky delivery. Sure enough, Byrd and Lagares played critical roles in the victory.
In the top of the ninth, Lagares made a game-saving catch, crashing against the center-field wall two snatch a hard-hit liner headed to the top of the fence, robbing the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen of an extra-base hit with a runner on base. In the bottom of the ninth, Byrd started the rally against Grilli.
Collins’s decision to Use relievers Brandon Lyon in the sixth and Scott Rice in the seventh, both times with runners on base, also paid off, as the pitchers got out of trouble. Even Collins’s two decision-making in the slumping Ike Davis on a double switch proved correct. Davis temporarily present the Mets a 2-1 lead in the seventh with a double.
“We talk in spring training about opportunities,” Collins said. “You know what? Here’s some opportunities to play. “
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