The team that pretty much ran out of major league caliber players over two months ago somehow almost ran out of players altogether yesterday despite owning a September roster expanded within the limits of baseball’s preposterous regulations and the organization’s empty cupboard.
“At this time of year it’s difficult to run out of players, but we almost did that today,” manager Jerry Manuel said after utilizing 13 position players in the Mets’ 5-3 home defeat to the Cubs during which the manager pinch hit for a pinch hitter because of a lefty-righty pitching change in the eighth inning as in a time warp back to late last summer when the games actually meant something.
“It’s interesting; I don’t really know if [expanding rosters] is fair, to be honest,” said Manuel, who took the bat out of Omir Santos’ hands so Jeremy Reed could get a shot at Carlos Marmol. “We play [all year] with what we play with, and now you add players. I don’t think it’s quite fair to baseball, in my opinion.”
Hockey may be ridiculous for settling regular season tie games with the skills competition known as the shootout, but at least the NHL doesn’t allow teams to dress an additional six players the final month of the season to take those penalty shots the way baseball allows clubs to add specialists by expanding their rosters from 25 to 40.
Suddenly the team with one left-hander out of the bullpen can report to the ballpark with three important situational arms. Suddenly the team that’s slow can dip into its system and promote a handful of fleet base-stealers. Strategy is altered. Dynamics are changed.
September promotions can sometimes provide a glimpse of better tomorrows. Cleon Jones, the best homegrown hitter in franchise history, made his debut as 21-year-old at the Polo Grounds toward the end of the 1963 season, a full six years before he’d hit .340 for the Miracle Mets.
Would that there’d been a player of Jones’ pedigree for these Mets to have promoted for this September song.
As is customary, the Mets yesterday were more about the players who weren’t in uniform than those who were. Carlos Beltran was in Brooklyn, where he was scheduled to play nine innings last night for the Cyclones in continuing his curious quest to hobble around the Citi Field outfield this month. John Maine was in St. Lucie, scheduled to pitch a rehab game that could propel him into the rotation if his troublesome right shoulder holds up.
It’s early September that’s extended spring training for the Mets. Cory Sullivan and Angel Pagan appear to be in some sort of competition to get a leg up on next season’s final outfield spot, if that fits anyone’s sense of excitement. Bobby Parnell is auditioning for a back-end role in next season’s rotation.
And then there’s Josh Thole (pronounced Toe-lee), a 22-year-old catcher up from Double-A, who might be able to snare a role in that romantic Field of Dreams movie that plays in every ballpark across the land.
Thole is a converted first-baseman in his second pro season behind the plate. Yesterday marked his second big-league game behind the plate. He’s learning and doesn’t pretend otherwise. He’s 4-for-9 at bat, and he is 1-for-1 in pegging out would be base-stealers, getting Kosuke Fukudome at second yesterday.
The Mets are going to be looking for a catcher next season. Thole sure seems a lot more than a few months away. But he’s here now, getting a look and may be someone for the fans to get a look at the rest of the way.
“No question, everybody [here] has a shot,” said Manuel. “Once you’re in the big leagues, everyone has a chance.”