Keith Hernandez checked in with Sports+ this week and gave his thoughts on Pete Alonso’s season, the Mets’ postseason chances and his future in the SNY booth, perhaps with a new partner added to the future mix.
The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
NYP: In what has been an underwhelming season by his standards, do you think Pete Alonso’s looming free agency is weighing on him?
KH: I’ve got to believe that it is. Pete has just been pull-happy all year. He’s pulling the breaking ball. Pete’s an emotional player, and it’s been a struggle for him — it’s pretty plain. Where would the Mets be if he was having his normal season? But he can make everybody forget about it. Everybody has forgotten about [Francisco] Lindor’s first two months of the season. We can forget about Pete’s 4 ½ months with a terrific five weeks.
NYP: What’s in your crystal ball as far as Alonso’s future with the team?
KH: I don’t know what’s going on there. He’s definitely going to test the market. I hope he’s back.
NYP: This Mets’ starting rotation has performed decently. Is it good enough to carry the Mets in October should they reach the postseason?
KH: That’s a tough one. [David] Peterson has made great strides, and I’ve always liked him. I think with his hip surgery and his hip being healthy, we’re seeing the pitcher that he is. It’s a big step for him and he has a chance to continue. [Luis] Severino has been terrific. [Sean] Manaea has come into his own. He’s changed his delivery, and he’s a different pitcher. He’s throwing strikes, he has confidence and he’s pitching like an ace. The Mets need that. They need that one guy to go out there every fifth day where you know you’re going to win, and the jury’s out, but [Manaea] certainly seems to be stepping into those shoes. He’s got to keep it up. Arizona and San Diego have better pitching among the wild-card contestants. I think Atlanta and the Mets are in the same boat as far as pitching.
NYP: How perplexed are you by Francisco Alvarez’s troubles offensively?
KH: He’s got a long swing — he swings from his ass and he needs to be more controlled. … He had an interrupted season. He was out a long time after the thumb surgery, and he has not hit well since returning. The second year is always a tough one for baseball players. I do believe in a sophomore jinx, and it’s more mental than anything. When you’re a rookie, you have no expectations and you have a big year and you kind of ride the wave. The second year, you come to spring training, and after hitting 25 home runs last year, there’s expectation. It’s always to me the big adjustment year. He’s got five weeks to make everybody forget, but right now I really don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel with him. He’s really over-swinging.
NYP: What do you think of the job Carlos Mendoza has done in his rookie season as manager?
KH: He’s been doing a good job with all the injuries and having to really work hard to keep the bullpen from being overworked. David Stearns has also done a good job in bringing veteran bullpen help, and the bench is so much stronger. It was a noticeable weakness in April and now it’s a noticeable strength. You look at our bench Wednesday [when the Mets won on Jesse Winker’s pinch-hit homer], and it was two left-handers and two right-handers. It was a balanced bench and a solid veteran bench. That’s a big improvement.
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NYP: How do you handicap this NL wild-card race?
KH: [The Mets] have as good a chance as anybody. The one team I am skeptical of is the Giants. If you look at the schedules, the wild-card contestants in the West have the toughest schedules because that’s where the competition is and they’re going to play each other, so that’s an advantage for the Mets. But the Mets have seven games with the Phillies, and it might come to the whole shooting match — the last week of the season the three games in Atlanta.
NYP: You recently worked a broadcast with Daniel Murphy. How did you like it?
KH: Murph is a student of hitting, and I think there’s a mutual respect. It was fun. They let us run off on hitting and [give] our thoughts, and I thought for one broadcast, it was great. Murph’s got a great future if he wants to do this, but if we work together on more games, there just can’t be that focus on hitting. We’re going to have to be analysts. I think he’ll make that adjustment. It was fun for me to have someone to talk hitting with and someone who’s very intelligent. Everybody has different ideas on how they hit, and basically Murph and I are two peas in a pod as far as hitting is concerned.
NYP: You turned 70 last October. How long will you continue in the booth?
KH: I’ve got another year on my contract, and if I do another three-year deal after that, it would take me to 75. I’m not entertaining any ideas about calling it quits. I would love to have another three-year deal and work another three years after next season. Maybe I would cut back from 110 games to 100 or 90. And then when I’m 75, then I would consider cutting back significantly more. But right now I have no desire to retire.
José Buttó had a rare letdown performance Wednesday when he was hit with a blown save after walking two batters in the eighth inning and allowing an inherited runner to score before Winker’s walkoff fireworks in the ninth.
But the right-hander has been the most valuable component of the Mets’ bullpen over the past seven weeks, and there is much intrigue over his usage.
It now appears almost certain Buttó will remain in the bullpen for the remainder of the season. Instead of keeping him stretched out in a multiple inning relief role, Mendoza has moved in the opposite direction. Buttó has pitched only one inning in each of his past two appearances, which suggests Mendoza wants him available more frequently.
When Buttó pitches two innings, the protocol has been that he receives the next two days off. The Mets have arms returning to the bullpen (Reed Garrett and Dedniel Núñez), lessening the need for Buttó to work multiple innings, keeping him available more often.
The Mets are the only MLB team that hasn’t received an at-bat from a rookie this season.
That fact only underscores what we discussed in this space last week about this season becoming something of a disappointment from a development standpoint because of injuries and underperformance.
Ronny Mauricio, Drew Gilbert and Jett Williams are among the rookies we might have seen this season otherwise.
In just over a week, rosters will expand to 28, with one pitcher and one position player added.
Brett Baty, with a strong season at Triple-A Syracuse, certainly has positioned himself well to become an extra left-handed bat off the bench if the Mets choose that route.
Baty’s added defensive versatility, with second base also an option for him, helps his case.