QUEASY ‘E’: Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada turns a double play on Denard Span and the Nationals during an error-less weekend, an upgrade from a worrisome six-error, 13-game stretch to start the season. The Dodgers open a three-game set at Citi Field tonight. (
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For the Mets, fixing Ruben Tejada’s defense isn’t just a priority, it’s a must.
With no other viable options at shortstop, they need the 23-year-old to break out of his fielding funk. If the past week is an indication, he’s finally taking small but vital steps toward doing just that.
Tejada has not made an error in his past three games, and he shook off Friday’s ankle injury that reduced him to a pinch-hitter Saturday to turn in an outstanding defensive effort Sunday. It was hardly Gold Glove stuff, but it was a vast improvement on his rash of six errors in the season’s opening 13 games.
“We know what kind of defense he can play,’’ said third baseman David Wright, whose Mets open a series against the Dodgers tonight. “Everybody goes through that … especially early in the year where you’ve got the adrenaline flowing. You make a couple errors, and all of a sudden you start thinking about it and expand the problem.
“But we’ve seen the plays he can make. I’ve seen the defense he brings to the table. It’s not just offensively — he gets on base, does a nice job, had a big walk (Saturday) — but also defensively he’s great. So I wasn’t worried at all. Just a slow start.’’
Slow is being kind. When Tejada sailed a throw over Ike Davis’ head a week ago in Colorado for his sixth error, it plated the two tying runs with two outs in the eighth inning of a come-from-ahead 9-8 10-inning loss to the Rockies.
The six errors were the second-most in the majors going into last night, a shocking start for a player who finished with the third-best fielding percentage among NL shortstops last year. But with minor leaguer Omar Quintanilla the only other option, both Wright and Terry Collins have professed faith in Tejada.
“We try not to make any excuses here, but the game in Colorado, he just didn’t have a grip on the ball,” Collins said. “But we know Ruben Tejada is a better player than what he played the first 15 games of the season. He’s a much better player. We know Ruben can play. It’s just once in a while you’ve got to be patient and say we know he’s going to get better.’’
Collins gave Tejada a day off Saturday after he turned his ankle Friday — until he pinch-hit in the fourth and fouled off four straight full-count pitches to draw a walk that extended the Mets’ five-run inning. On Sunday, he went to his left to rob Kurt Suzuki in the seventh inning and preserve the lead in a 2-0 win.
“I feel good,” Tejada said. “I try to work hard every day on the plays, making the routine play is the big thing, so I feel good. … I have to keep concentrating the same way.”
Tejada said he has been buoyed by Collins’ confidence.
“It helps me a lot because I feel good when I hear that, so that’s a big thing,” he said. “I’m appreciative for that and I have to keep the same way working hard.’’
Amid the struggles, Tejada never got timid with his throws or lost his aggressiveness.
“If I had the type of arm he has, I’d be showing it off, too,” Wright said. “You don’t want to start aiming it, you want to just let it go. He’s got a great arm: Why not show it off?
“The biggest thing with him is just letting it come natural, not over-thinking it, just catch it and throw it. A lot of times … most times, he’s about as good as you can get defensively.’’