BEAN BALLS: The Mets’ Jordany Valdespin receives attention yesterday after taking a Justin Verlander fastball to the crotch — and he wasn’t wearing a cup. (AP)
BEAN BALLS: The Mets’ Jordany Valdespin receives attention yesterday after taking a Justin Verlander fastball to the crotch — and he wasn’t wearing a cup. (AP)
LAKELAND, Fla. — Jordany Valdespin could use a cup to runneth over.
The Mets utilityman exited yesterday’s exhibition game against the Tigers after he was hit in the genitals with a Justin Verlander 94-mph fastball, and left club officials shaking their heads by revealing he wasn’t wearing a protective cup.
“You would think if you are starting at second base, you would be smart enough to wear a cup,” manager Terry Collins fumed to The Post after the Mets’ 11-0 victory at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Valdespin, who homered leading off the game facing Verlander, was attempting a bunt in the fifth inning against the stud fireballer when he was struck, crumpling him to the ground in agony.
Asked where the pitch hit him, Valdespin replied, “in the d–k,” adding that everything is “fine” and he doesn’t expect to miss action.
“Everything is good, working good, normally, everything is great,” Valdespin said.
The flamboyant 25-year-old departed the ballpark before it was revealed to The Post he wasn’t wearing a cup. But it wasn’t that Valdespin got hit in the sensitive area without a cup that miffed Collins as much as the player showing a probable lapse in judgment by shunning the protection on a day he was playing second base. One former major league infielder said it’s “highly unusual” for a second baseman not to wear a cup.
“If you are playing the infield, it is part of the uniform,” the former infielder said.
Valdespin’s penchant for flying open early on bunt attempts leaves him vulnerable, said one Mets instructor.
Verlander, a former MVP and Cy Young Award winner, said it was the first time he had drilled a batter in that spot.
“He took a hack at the first pitch and the next one — he already hit one bomb — and the next one he totally squared [toward] me,” Verlander said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh God, this isn’t going to be good.’ Right out of the hand it’s like, ‘Oh, [bleep]! That is right at his [genitals].’ ”
Collins has told Valdespin this spring to eliminate some of his antics, warning that he might become a target for pitchers. One such warning came two weeks ago after Valdespin faked a bunt leading off a game against Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. In the same at-bat, Valdespin singled and received a glare from Strasburg as he ran to first base.
“We’re going to settle some of that stuff down,” Collins said. “[Valdespin] has been told a lot in the last couple of years about how to handle himself on the major league field, especially when you are a young player. He understands it, he’s adjusting to it and once in a while you always get caught up in the moment.
“When you’ve been doing some things your whole life sometimes you have a little difficulty making some adjustments, but he will make them. We’ve got some good veterans on this team. They will make him.”
Both Collins and Valdespin said they doubted Verlander was throwing at the player.
The cup controversy comes as Valdespin has emerged as the Mets’ hottest hitter in camp. He is batting .370 this spring with three homers and six RBIs, and appears to have solidified a spot on the team’s Opening Day roster.