Curtis Granderson did his best Jason Bay impersonation in his first game with the Mets. Granderson went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts — a very Bay-like performance.
It’s only one game, but it’s never too early to panic in Queens. Granderson was the Mets’ big acquisition this winter. They signed him to a four-year, $60 million deal, luring him across town from the Yankees.
Granderson did not offer much self-analysis after the 9-7, 10-inning loss to the Nationals, instead turning the focus to the team.
“Not good,” Granderson said when asked to assess his day. “You’ve got to go ahead and find a way to get the victory. Today we weren’t able to get that done, but that’s part of it. We still have a lot of baseball left to play. We definitely aren’t going to hang our heads by any means. We rebound back, rest up and be ready to go and even the series on Wednesday.”
Strikeouts have always been a problem with Granderson. He had the second-most in the American League with 195 in 2012, setting a Yankees record.
Granderson had one hard-hit ball during the game, a long fly ball to center field in the eighth inning that Nationals center fielder Denard Span tracked down.
“I knew I hit it well,” he said. “They always talk about bad placement. The center fielder has been there a very long time and sure enough Denard Span was able to run under it and make a play on it.”
He ended the game by looking at a third strike from Nationals reliever Jerry Blevins in the 10th inning.
Granderson said the excitement at Citi Field compared with that at Yankee Stadium.
The 33-year-old is being looked at as one of the leaders of this young Mets team. He is not shying away from the expectations, even the lofty 90-win goal stated by general manager Sandy Alderson.
“If we do the things individually that we know we’re capable of doing, we know we have a chance to go very far,” Alderson said. “How far that happens to be, who knows? We’re not going to necessarily lock into numbers because even though there’s something floating around out there, you can still be very successful and either overshoot that or be right around it. As long as you’re still playing at the end of the season, that’s considered a successful season. That’s where everybody wants to be.”
The memory of Bay lingers around Citi Field. He signed a similar deal to Granderson before the 2010 season, coming in at four years and $66 million. The contract was a terrible mistake, as Bay batted .234 over three seasons.