{"id":732135,"date":"2026-06-21T23:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/732135\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T23:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:12:15","slug":"mets-still-protecting-rookie-aj-ewing-against-lefties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/732135\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets still protecting rookie AJ Ewing against lefties:"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Mets<\/a> had a decision to make Saturday night about their lineup against left-hander Cristopher Sanchez: Use center fielder A.J. Ewing, a left-handed hitter, against one of the best southpaws in baseball, or stack the lineup with right-handed hitters at the expense of outfield defense.<\/p>\n

The latter choice was what they went with, starting utilityman Eric Wagaman in right field and moving Carson Benge<\/a> to center, where Ewing usually plays. Ewing is hitting just .194 against left-handed pitching this season with a .437 OPS, and the other left-handed options in right field weren\u2019t great either. Jared Young is hitting .125 against lefties this season, and Brett Baty is hitting just .175 against them.<\/p>\n

Wagaman cost the Mets a run in right field, getting to a line drive late and catching it on the ground for a single. One can hardly blame a bench player playing out of position for a 15-3 loss, but it did call into question the Mets\u2019 decision-making when it comes to their two rookie outfielders, Ewing and Benge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been some tough matchups there, especially some tough left-on-left out of the bullpen, and there\u2019s been times where he stays in there and he gives you good at-bat,\u201d said manager Carlos Mendoza. \u201cBut then there\u2019s been times where he chases, and I think that\u2019s part of the development at this level, facing left-handed pitching. Not only starters, but relievers in high leverage situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mets have been somewhat strict with their platoon decisions this season, opting whenever possible to play the splits instead of the hot hand or the green rookie. Benge got the same treatment early in the season.<\/p>\n

Ewing, a 21-year-old out of Ohio, understands why the Mets are protecting him from some of the tougher left-on-left matchups. He doesn\u2019t deny that he\u2019s chasing pitches out of the zone. At times, he\u2019s found himself feeling tense in the box against lefties, maybe even a bit overeager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about being comfortable in the box,\u201d Ewing told the Daily News on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. \u201cFeeling comfortable in the box is big for me and that\u2019s an adjustment I\u2019ve made over the last couple of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ewing has recognized his shoulders tensing and his upper body going stiff. That doesn\u2019t lend itself to proper mechanics or pitch selection. His arms end up too high, and his hands in the wrong position. What he\u2019s trying to do is remind himself to take a breath and relax his upper body, let his shoulders drop to their proper position to be able to use his legs and go about his at-bats as he usually would.<\/p>\n

Ewing is looking at more pitch data to see where lefties are locating their pitches against him and is taking reps off the pitching machine. It\u2019s not something he\u2019s especially worried about, since he knows chasing pitches can come with inexperience. It\u2019s part of the development of every young hitter, and his overall numbers show that he\u2019s adapting to the Major Leagues quite well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to keep playing,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery opportunity I have against left-handed pitching, I\u2019m going to try to take advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, Ewing should probably be playing every day. They won\u2019t be able to shelter him forever, and they believe this is just part of his development. But at the same time, the Mets are still trying to win, which means they have to put the best lineup out on the field every day, and if Ewing is struggling against lefties, he may not be the best option.<\/p>\n

One school of thought is that he has to play through it. Given the other options, the Mets might be inclined to let him do that in upcoming games against left-handers, but it\u2019s tough to tell.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Ewing is happy with how he\u2019s handled himself in the Major Leagues while continuing to develop and learn. He\u2019s gone through stretches at the plate where he\u2019s looked overmatched regardless of which side the ball is coming from, and he\u2019s managed to get himself out of those periods each time.<\/p>\n

The thing about the Benge and Ewing both is that they don\u2019t think too much about what they aren\u2019t doing right. With another game, there isn\u2019t a ton of time to dwell on the past. Benge plays like a big kid, just happy to be out at the ballpark doing what he loves. Ewing is a bit more cerebral, understanding that even big leaguers fail, so he shouldn\u2019t be afraid of failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a part of my game that I take a lot of pride in, I\u2019ve always had a very level head,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s failing so much that it\u2019s impossible to avoid it. It\u2019s understanding that there are going to be good days and bad days, and there are going to be good weeks and bad weeks. That\u2019s just part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Mets had a decision to make Saturday night about their lineup against left-hander Cristopher Sanchez:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[15462,5,1443,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203],"class_list":["post-732135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-aj-ewing","tag-baseball","tag-carlos-mendoza","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116790633676772226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}