MLB

Mets’ Valdespin paid back for show-off home run

Terry Collins wondered aloud what was in store for Jordany Valdespin after he stared at his ninth-inning homer on Friday against the Pirates.

“Will they throw at [Valdespin]? I have no idea,” the Mets manager said. “Fifteen years ago, the answer would have been yes. I can’t say that’s gonna happen in today’s game.”

Collins got his answer in the seventh inning yesterday, when reliever Bryan Morris drilled Valdespin, who was pinch-hitting.

After getting hit in the right forearm, Valdespin walked slowly to first base, carrying his bat more than halfway down the line. When he went back to the dugout, he fired his helmet into the corner.

Valdespin, no stranger to controversy, declined to answer questions about what happened. Instead, he said through a team spokesman: “It’s done with. I’m not gonna address it.”

Good luck.

“They threw at him,” Collins said. “I knew they might. It’s part of the game. He’s got to go up there and do what he did. I respect the way he handled it, went to first and is ready to play again.”

Although Morris and Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle didn’t say there was intention, everyone anticipated the situation.

“We all knew coming in to today that the Pirates could have taken it one way and I think Jordany understood that,” David Wright said. “It’s a learning process. You know what you’re getting in Jordany: A very talented player who has a knack for getting those big hits. Sometimes he shows that charisma and flair and I think that upsets some people.”

Clearly, it upset the Pirates.

As for why he threw a tantrum in the dugout, the Mets chose to believe the simplest explanation.

“He was just mad it happened,” Wright said. “I’m sure he was hoping it wouldn’t. … I think he knows we have his back.”

But Valdespin has irked the organization repeatedly, which is why Wright, Collins and other have chatted with himand no doubt will again.

“I think he gets a bad rap, sometimes unfairly,” Wright said. “Obviously, he’s made some mistakes in the past. … He doesn’t need to change the person he is. I think toning some of it down might be appropriate.”

* Collins said the team would need to make a move today because his “bullpen is shot.”

He didn’t expect the move to be recalling Frank Francisco, since he was told the right-hander didn’t throw yesterday, as scheduled. Jeurys Familia remained unavailable with biceps tendinitis.