As Curtis Granderson’s funk is getting worse, so are the boos in Flushing.
The Mets’ struggling right fielder went 0-for-5 in Saturday’s 7-5 loss to the Braves to drop his average to .140. After the Mets handed him a four-year, $60 million deal, he has just four RBIs and stranded four men on base against the Braves.
Asked if Granderson was pressing, manager Terry Collins acknowledged not only the possibility, but broached the prospect of moving him out of the cleanup spot to take some of the pressure of the three-time all-star.
“It’s hard to tell. I talked to him [Saturday] about a couple things, and he might be,’’ said Collins. “But he doesn’t seem like it. He’s been put in these situations before, he’s played in the biggest stages there possibly is and he’s swung. He’s not squaring much up right now, so we might have to do something to get him out of that spot to take a little bit of the pressure off of him.’’
For his part, Granderson said he wasn’t pressing and cavernous Citi Field wasn’t getting in his head.
“No, not at all. Just trying to get things right, and understand that baseball is that way.,” Granderson said. “It’s just a matter of one thing possibly getting you right or one thing getting you not right.
“Obviously you want things to be better, and you know that they can be. But you realize it is baseball. There’s a lot of baseball to be played, a lot of at-bats to be had, a lot of games that can go one way or the other.’’
Jose Valverde served up a long three-run shot to Justin Upton, and has allowed four home runs in his last three appearances.
“He just left the ball up,’’ catcher Travis d’Arnaud said.
“It’s all about location. In Arizona the other day he threw two balls right in the Nitro Zone and obviously he must’ve done the same with Justin,’’ Collins said. “When we’ve talked to people about him and what he does they say when he’s locating his fastball he gets a lot of outs. Right now he’s leaving balls on the plate and he’s getting hit.’’
Jenrry Mejia threw a bullpen session and the blister that forced him out of his last start after five innings appears OK. He’s scheduled to start Monday.
“I saw Mejia [Saturday]. He threw and his finger looks great,’’ Collins said.
Freddie Freeman had three hits, and has 41 RBIs in his past 40 games against the Mets, hitting .350 with 12 home runs in that span.
Davis has big debut for Pirates
In his first game with the Pirates, Ike Davis went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored a walk and a strikeout. Davis played the whole game at first base.