The Ronny Mauricio show continued Saturday in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Reds.
The rookie, in the lineup against a lefty starter for just the third time since being called up from Triple-A Syracuse, delivered two more hits off Andrew Abbott.
Mauricio had gotten off to a rough start batting right-handed.
He entered Saturday with just a .282 OPS in 11 plate appearances versus lefties, compared to .904 in 31 plate appearances as a lefty hitter against righties.
The disparity was not nearly as stark for Mauricio in the minors this season.
Upon his call up to the Mets at the beginning of September, he had an .873 OPS as a lefty and a .743 OPS while right-handed.
But in the bottom of the first inning, Mauricio’s RBI single to left-center gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
He reached on an infield hit to shortstop in the third inning, then stole second base.
Playing his second game at third base, Mauricio made a diving stop and strong throw to get pinch-hitter Nick Stenzel for the second out in the top of the seventh.
His inexperience at the position showed in the second inning, though, when he wasn’t covering the bag as Francisco Alvarez made an ill-advised throw to try to pick off TJ Friedl at third base.
The ball went into left field on Alvarez’s throwing error, which led to an unearned run.
The Mets don’t have much to play for these days, but they provided some drama in the bottom of the ninth inning before coming up short when Pete Alonso grounded out with two runners on to end it.
The Mets didn’t have a hit after Alvarez’s RBI double in the fourth until Daniel Vogelbach’s pinch-hit single with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Brandon Nimmo followed with a fly out before Alvarez singled to left to get Alonso to the plate.
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Nimmo was back in center field on Saturday after he had started two of the previous three games in left.
Asked if there was thought of moving Nimmo to left more in the final weeks of the season, manager Buck Showalter said, “No, he’s our center fielder.”
Nimmo played several games in left field last month when he was bothered by a quad injury. This time, Showalter said he was giving Nimmo a chance at a bit of rest.
“We’re just trying to give a blow with less room to cover [in left],’’ Showalter said. “I talked to him. It’s nothing for down the road.”
The occasional switch is an attempt to “keep him on the field and make use of him,” Showalter said.
With the Mets attempting to play spoiler in the NL wild-card race, Showalter said: “Teams that are competing against Arizona [the Mets’ previous opponent, also battling for a postseason spot] are happy. It’s either [left] or not play.”
Nimmo has had a bit of an uneven season defensively in center, according to most advanced metrics, with a -4.8 UZR, which is the worst of his career, and significantly worse than any of his other seasons besides the 2020 shortened season, according to FanGraphs.
And his Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, is just 1, which is on the lower end of the spectrum.
Showalter focused on the other part of Alonso’s game on Saturday, saying the first baseman has “got a chance” to win a Gold Glove at the position.
He noted that Alonso had the second-best ranking among first basemen, according to some metrics.
According to most of the publicly available defensive metrics, any shot Alonso has is slim at best.
He comes in fourth in the NL among first basemen at Defensive Runs Saved with 5, but his Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, is just 1.
Showalter said there is a schedule that would make it possible for Starling Marte to return to game action this season, provided the outfielder doesn’t suffer any setbacks.
