The Mets are back in action at Citi Field on Tuesday night to take on the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series and interim manager Andy Green spoke about a few topics in his pregame news conference.
Latest on Juan Soto and outfield alignment once he returns
On the injured list for the second time this season with a calf injury, Soto hasn't played for New York since July 24 but is still fighting to return to the team before the end of the season.
Green told reporters that he still doesn't have a specific return date for the slugger, but that Soto continues to progress well and remains doing baseball activities.
"We all expect him to be back," the skipper said.
When Soto does eventually re-join the team, he will be met by a crowded outfield mix that includes rookies A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge and veteran Luis Robert Jr., whose absence with an injury for most of the summer opened the door for Ewing to get his opportunity and allowed Ewing and Benge to shine alongside Soto.
When Robert returned from his injury, the plan was to reintroduce him to the outfield slowly to try and keep him healthy and to keep the rest of the outfielders in the lineup. On days that Robert played the outfield and Soto wasn't the designated hitter, one of the rookies would have to sit.
That's not an ideal plan, considering that the development of Benge and Ewing should be paramount to the team, especially in a lost season. And it quickly went out the window when Soto re-injured his calf, which made Benge and Ewing full-time players once again. So, what will happen to the outfield when Soto returns this time around?
"I think it just adds the best player in baseball to our outfield/DH mix," Green said. "I think Luis would get some DH at-bats in that set of circumstances, as would Juan, which is what he was getting before. So whenever we get to that, we will welcome him with open arms and be excited to get him into the lineup."
Until then, the Mets will continue to flip-flop reps to Ewing and Robert in center field and in left field after Robert, who had never played left field in his career, started all three games there against his former team, the Chicago White Sox, over the weekend.
Green spoke about how Robert handled the new position and how to manage Ewing's development at his long-term position in center field while also putting out the best defensive alignment in the outfield, which has Robert in his natural center and Ewing in left where he's also comfortable.
"I thought [Robert was solid out [in left field]… outside of the ball that he lost in the sun where we still got [Miguel] Vargas on the relay throw he made every play that he could possibly make," Green said. "… I think [we're] encouraged by that and I think we’re gonna continue to stick with what we talked about, which is getting A.J. consistent center field reps – he had them every game last series – and he’ll continue to get more than he gets in the corner.
"It does not hurt A.J., his future development, his value to the team to move to the corners. He has said to me how comfortable he is in left field, and I know that to be true because I’ve been watching him since he was in Port St. Lucie playing left field, and seeing him make some outrageous plays there. So we’ll still get him the lion’s share of reps in center, but we’ll continue to do what we told Luis we were gonna do, which is give him some consistent reps [in center] as well."
Ewing dealing with first prolonged offensive slump
While all the talk surrounding the defensive alignment in the outfield takes place, Ewing has been having a rough go of it at the plate. Over his last 30 games, the youngster is slashing .186/.269/.237 and is currently 6-for-his-last-53. He hasn't had a multi-hit game since Aug. 7 and has seen his OPS fall from a season-high .813 on July 8 to .681 entering play on Tuesday.
The Mets are hoping Ewing is showing signs of getting back on track after recording a hit in the final two games in Chicago, but right now it is not coming easy for the 22-year-old who burst onto the scene since his MLB debut.
"I don’t know that anything new has been learned," Green said when asked what he's learned from Ewing as he fights through this tough stretch. "I do think he is walking through a stretch where he doesn’t have the greatest slash line – he’s walking through it well from a work perspective, from an attitude perspective, from a confidence perspective. He’s handling these things really, really well, which gives you a lot of confidence as he moves forward into the future.
"Slumps are a part of baseball for guys that have 15 years in the big leagues and guys who have 15 minutes in the big leagues. I think he’s had some really quality at-bats along the way. It’s not the consistency of the quality that I know he wants, and we believe he will have, but I think he has reaffirmed what we already knew about him, and we trust the resiliency and resolve."
To his credit, Ewing has been in the lineup every day while he tries to figure things out on the fly, but he is no longer batting leadoff, at least for now, as he's hitting ninth in the order on Tuesday for just the third time in his young career.
Perhaps a return to Citi Field will help Ewing get back on track. In 46 games at home, Ewing is slashing .253/.333/.416 with six home runs, compared to on the road where he's slashing .235/.302/.309 with one home run in 44 games.
Mark Vientos injury update
Asked about any news on Vientos, who has been out with a fractured hand since July 10 but began a rehab assignment recently, Green gave an update.
"He’s heading to Lehigh Valley now with the Triple-A club," Green said. "We’ll let his play, how he feels, and kind of the progression in general be determined by what happens on the field a little bit. Right now we’re not particularly close to declaring him ready. When you hurt your hand, you need to get some at-bats and get going."
In two games with Double-A Binghamton, Vientos is 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and a walk.
