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New York Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Mets takeaways: Huascar Brazobán's confidence, power outage for two sluggers and more
The New York Mets came through with an important victory Wednesday, outlasting Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet to halt their season-worst losing streak at three games. Heading into this weekend's series with the Dodgers at Citi Field, let's run through some takeaways from the three days at Fenway. Advertisement At a point for the franchise where pitching development is on the upswing, Mets officials are giving their pitchers more than data and technology to help them. They're also applying soft skills. One of the best examples is the communication behind veteran reliever Huascar Brazobán's breakout. Following a trade from the Miami Marlins last year, Brazobán struggled. In his second appearance with the team, he allowed three runs in the seventh inning of a one-run loss to the Los Angeles Angels. His body language, coaches recall, relayed complete disappointment. He didn't need to tell anyone he felt he let the team down; it was obvious. 'Brazobán wants to be great,' Mets bullpen coach Jose Rosado said. 'When things weren't going the right way for him, he would get down on himself, be hard on himself.' For the rest of last season, Brazobán struggled with his confidence. He had a 5.14 ERA in 21 innings with the Mets. The Mets coaching staff didn't give up on him. They kept prioritizing instances where they could tell him simple reminders like 'it is OK to give up a run' and 'just focus on the next pitch.' The Mets invested time in rebuilding Brazobán's swagger since it plummeted to an all-time low in that game against the Angels. Now, it's paying off. 'It was a turning point in his career,' Rosado said. By throwing another 2 1/3 scoreless innings in the Mets' 5-1 win on Wednesday, Brazobán lowered his ERA to 0.90. He ranks second on the club in games (20) and innings (27). He has 26 strikeouts and six walks. Brazobán's emergence from barely making the Opening Day roster to establishing himself as one of manager Carlos Mendoza's most-trusted high-leverage relievers is one of the Mets' most promising developments this season. Throughout the first two months, Brazobán has maintained his confidence, whether he allows a run in an outing or not. On April 18 against the St. Louis Cardinals, Brazobán filled in for closer Edwin Díaz. He blew the save, giving up a leadoff home run to Brendan Donovan. But from there, things didn't spiral like they have in the past. Brazobán struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Francisco Lindor hit a walk-off home run. Advertisement After that game, Rosado found Brazobán in the clubhouse, 'Papa, let me tell you,' Rosado said, 'this is great. What just happened, what you did after, this should be a growing point in your life.' For Mark Vientos, this stretch of the season is all about competing. Vientos knows May has not been his best month. He has as many double-play grounders (three) as extra-base hits over 69 plate appearances. His OPS is .648. In the past, such a slump might have cost him confidence and/or playing time. It doesn't right now. 'I think it's a part of the season where you're just competing,' he said in Boston. 'This is the part of the season where it's happening, and there's going to be a month where I'm probably hitting a home run every other day. 'It's just telling yourself your numbers are going to be there at the end and trusting the work you've put in.' Vientos has five home runs through 187 plate appearances this season. Last year, in his 187th trip to the plate, he hit his 12th long ball of the year. 'He's just missed a lot,' co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said. 'Honestly, his swing is pretty similar to last year. He's always had power. It'll come. I think it's a matter of keeping your head down and keep plugging. With some of those balls he's just missing, a millimeter on the ball might make a difference. You don't want to overreact too much.' Another hitter whose power has yet to arrive this season is Francisco Alvarez. The catcher has one home run and two doubles in 72 plate appearances since coming off the injured list. After hitting 25 homers in 423 plate appearances as a rookie in 2023, Alvarez has less than half that (12) in 414 plate appearances since the start of last season. Mendoza says Alvarez's timing is off, especially on opposing fastballs. Advertisement 'He's getting beat with fastballs,' Mendoza said earlier this week. 'At this level, you've got to be able to hit the fastball. And he's been a good fastball hitter.' Alvarez has swung and missed at more than 22 percent of the fastballs he's seen — the second-worst rate in the majors for anyone who's faced as many as 100 heaters. (Atlanta's Jarred Kelenic was worse, and he's in the minors now.) And Alvarez's slugging when he makes contact on the pitch has gone down again, from .541 in 2023 to .492 in 2024 to just .333 this season. And even that modest slugging number has been boosted by an unsustainable batting average on balls in play above .500 for Alvarez against fastballs. 'Sometimes you get off time,' said Barnes. 'And then (he's) getting a little too big and trying to do too much. His stride is getting wide right now, and that just speeds up the process. It's about tightening everything up a little bit.' Brett Baty wasn't the only Met who showed what he could do against left-handed pitching on Wednesday; it was important for Francisco Lindor's right-handed swing to show some pop, as well. With his double off Garrett Crochet and homer off Sean Newcomb, Lindor matched in one night the number of extra-base hits he'd accumulated all season against southpaws. He'd been just 10-for-45 off lefties coming into the night. Lindor's uncharacteristic issues against lefties — he's generally been a bit better from the right side over his career — allowed opposing teams to consistently bring in a left-handed reliever to face the Mets' top of the order. Lindor wants to make teams pay for making that choice. 'I haven't been clicking,' Lindor said of his right-handed swing before Wednesday's outburst. 'I haven't had the good days that I expect myself to have.' (Top photo of Huascar Brazobán: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Juan Soto's bullpen visits: Sunflower seeds and scouting reports
NEW YORK — Juan Soto, honorary member of the New York Mets bullpen? 'Hey, at this point,' Mets reliever Ryne Stanek said, smiling, 'he comes by so often that we might as well give him that title.' Soto, the superstar right fielder, visits the Mets' bullpen before games, between pitching changes — really, anytime there's a break in the action that allows him an opportunity to pop in. Advertisement It's not completely unusual for a right fielder to linger by the wall near where the relievers reside or stop in the bullpen for a quick hello or sip of a drink. But Soto is different. He visits all the time. 'He does it way more than others,' said Stanek, who is in his ninth major-league season. 'We love it.' Added Mets reliever Max Kranick, 'We look forward to his visits.' Earlier this season, Soto referred to the relievers as 'his guys.' Why wouldn't he visit with them, he wonders. Sometimes, it's just laughs and light conversation. A lot of the time, though, Soto heads to his bullpen buddies seeking information. The visits took off at the start of the season when the Mets began playing games at Citi Field. 'The conversation that we got with him, it's been amazing,' bullpen coach Jose Rosado said. When Soto drops by the bullpen, he might be looking for advice on a few topics. Sometimes, he wants to know what Rosado thinks an opposing reliever might throw to left-handed batters. Other times, he wants to know a Mets reliever's approach against a certain batter so he can position himself defensively. And every once in a while, Soto will ask Rosado for tips on throwing mechanics, wanting more carry on his throws from right field. 'He wants to have that step ahead,' Rosado said, 'on everything.' The relievers and Rosado expect Soto's visits. juan soto born to be a relief pitcher who hangs out in the bullpen most of the game, forced to be a generational hitter — dianna (@runwildkian) May 6, 2025 'I try to get the information before he even asks now,' Rosado said. 'It's been great.' Rosado is prepared for Soto before the first pitch. In the first inning of games, Rosado stands by the fence separating the bullpen area from right field, awaiting Soto with a fistful of sunflower seeds. When Soto walks over, Rosado gives him a handful. Advertisement From there, Soto jogs out to his position and places the seeds where the defensive card tells him to stand as a marker. 'I'm ready as soon as the game starts,' Rosado said. 'I know to already have the sunflower seeds. He asked me the first game for sunflower seeds. I was like, 'You know you have plenty in the dugout — what's going on?' But then I saw him go back to his position, lay them down. I noticed it right away. It's pretty cool. Little things that I know he likes to do.' After getting seeds, Soto wants scouting reports. During a pitching change in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Soto asked Mets lefty reliever A.J. Minter how lefties should pitch against him. The next day, Minter looked at some video and numbers on how Phillies lefty reliever Matt Strahm might pitch to Soto. Minter then offered his input. 'This is what I think he is going to do,' Minter told Soto. Soto responded, 'I think the same thing.' Minter laughed when he said what happened next. 'In the at-bat against Soto, Strahm did the exact opposite of what I said,' Minter said. 'I felt so bad.' Soto never held it against him. It didn't stop him from continuing to ask questions. 'He's such a competitor,' Minter said. 'You can see he is trying so hard. It's great to be teammates with him. I've told him, 'If I'm going to pitch against you, you know the strike zone so well — I know I'm attacking you.' So I tell him, 'Be ready for that first pitch, be ready off the jump.' But we just all love talking with him.' The talks don't always involve swapping information and seeking an edge. Stanek suggested that Soto may just want to lay low sometimes and the bullpen is a good for that. Sometimes, the relievers said, a fun conversation just evolves during a Soto visit. They call him 'chill,' 'calm' and 'confident.' Advertisement 'It's been cool to see his personality come out more now,' Kranick said. Added Stanek: 'You see it from people on social media or whatever saying whether he likes it here or not. I think he loves it here. He's been a great teammate.' It's common for Soto, in the first year of a $765 million deal, to quietly approach the Mets' relievers with questions. Are you ready today? How are you going to match up against this hitter? Relievers can sometimes feel isolated from the rest of the team. They're not in the dugout. They're by themselves, in the bullpen. They say Soto helps bring another element of connectedness. And they appreciate that effort. For Soto, his visits to the bullpen are helpful. That's also true for the relievers. 'In the beginning, I was like, 'Man, I gotta get him out of here so he can focus on the game,'' Rosado said. 'But it's the questions that he asks. It's perfect. He wants to know everything. So we're thinking. We have to bring the A-game every time.'
