VIERA, Fla. — As a way to maximize David Wright’s run-producing chances and generally stimulate the Mets’ offense, Terry Collins told The Post he is considering hitting his pitchers eighth on occasion.
“I think both [Wright and Curtis Granderson] are RBI guys,” Collins said. “My thought is: How do we get them more RBI chances and also give David, in particular, chances to drive in runs. It is a possibility I might try [hitting the pitcher eighth]. I don’t know that I will, but I might.”
Collins talked about the strategy with Tony La Russa, who, while managing, deployed it most often. The philosophy: You want your best hitter to bat in the first inning, so you install him third rather than cleanup. But then, the next time around the order, you want to try to set up as many RBI chances as possible for the No. 3 hitter and try to avoid situations in which he could be pitched around.
The theory is that by having a legitimate hitter in the No. 9 spot — say, Juan Lagares — it is as if the No. 3 batter becomes the cleanup man, because Nos. 9-1-2 in the order function like 1-2-3.
“When you have a guy like David Wright, it is worth considering,” La Russa said by phone. “I liked it. You want to protect your best hitter as best as possible, and this is a way.”
When he managed in the AL and had the DH, La Russa found he gravitated toward having the superior hitter bat ninth over eighth to give that double leadoff look as the lineup turned over. So when his Cardinals were struggling to score in 1998 despite Mark McGwire’s record home-run pace, he thought of ways to get the opponent to pitch to McGwire more often.
“If the pitcher is an out, then you only have two opportunities to get someone on in front of your No. 3 hitter, which opens more spots for that hitter to be pitched around or walked,” La Russa said. “This gives more opportunities for base runners in front of the No. 3 hitter and, thus, fewer chances to pitch around him.”
So La Russa used the alignment in the second-half opener in 1998 — hitting starting pitcher Todd Stottlemyre eighth and Placido Polanco ninth — and over the course of the second half, the Cardinal offense improved. He also used the strategy at times when Albert Pujols was his No. 3 hitter. He said the key is communication within the clubhouse, particularly to let the No. 9 hitter know that no one thinks he is a worse hitter than the pitcher, but a good hitter who will help the team score more frequently.
The tactic was used just twice last year — both times by AL teams in NL parks.
On Aug. 11, Tampa hit starter Jeremy Hellickson eighth and left fielder Jason Bourgeois ninth as a way to help its version of Wright — third-place-hitting third baseman Evan Longoria. On May 8 in Colorado, Joe Girardi was without a righty to pinch hit and with terrible protection for Robinson Cano, so he batted Cano second, starter David Phelps eighth and Austin Romine ninth.
Collins’ contemplation of trying this strategy underscores he is worried about his offense. Here are some key issues:
• Keep an eye on Lagares vs. Eric Young Jr. As Collins is showing by considering the pitcher hitting eighth, he is obsessed with getting runners on in front of Daniel Murphy, Wright and Granderson. Young is not an ideal leadoff man because of tepid on-base skills, but his base-stealing acumen means he will be in scoring position often when he does get on, and Collins believes his on-base skills can improve.
Lagares offers defense and promise for the future, but promise he only might attain with at-bats to learn. But the manager is being told 90 wins is possible by his bosses and so already is on a hot seat — and Young is a more known offensive commodity than Lagares.
Because Chris Young and Granderson could both play center, there has to be some possibility — to get further bench flexibility — the Mets will have Lagares begin the year at Triple-A if Young indeed is the regular leadoff man. The expectation, though, is that even if he does not start, Lagares will make the squad.
• Collins proactively apologized to Nationals GM Mike Rizzo for bringing a team Wednesday that had just one potential starter (Lagares). The problem was the Mets had a split-squad game in Port St. Lucie and obviously wanted to use some starters for their home fans. But Wright and Murphy are only scheduled to play for the first time Friday, and — due to leg injuries — Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada were not available.
That messes with Collins’ early hopes to load Davis and Duda up with at-bats in their first-base duel and to see if Tejada had made advancements off of his putrid 2013. That has been derailed somewhat at a time when there seems little excitement in Mets camp, in particular, about Tejada.
A friend of Stephen Drew called the Mets’ chances of getting Drew “very slim” as it becomes more obvious agent Scott Boras is willing to wait until after the season begins to sign his client, because then Drew could not be given a qualifying offer next offseason or potentially wait until June when draft-pick compensation for Drew would vanish, as well.
As some hedge if they have to go with Tejada at short, the Mets are seriously considering taking a player with more potential offensive punch — Wilmer Flores or Anthony Seratelli — as the backup rather than Omar Quintanilla.
• The idea is to play Chris Young every day. He has a history of struggling against righties, but Mets officials believe he only plays best when he plays often. So he will see plenty of righties this spring. How long do the Mets go with a $7.25 million investment if Young continues to struggle against righties — again with the pressure looming for this to be a winning, not rebuilding, season?