{"id":207160,"date":"2026-03-26T17:33:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207160\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T17:33:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:33:06","slug":"how-carlos-mendoza-drew-up-the-mets-new-look-lineup-on-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207160\/","title":{"rendered":"How Carlos Mendoza drew up the Mets’ new-look lineup on Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlos Mendoza didn\u2019t get many opportunities to deploy his optimal Mets<\/a> lineup during spring training.<\/p>\n

Between Francisco Lindor\u2019s hand surgery<\/a> and Juan Soto\u2019s absence for the World Baseball Classic<\/a>, the Mets were without their top two hitters for much of camp.<\/p>\n

But everyone was available in time for Opening Day, and Mendoza likes how the Mets\u2019 new-look lineup came together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw it the last week of camp,\u201d the manager said Thursday before opening the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a dynamic lineup. It\u2019s an offense that is going to be able to put together some professional at-bats; guys that put the ball in play when we need to. The versatility and the balance. You\u2019re looking at having lefties, switch-hitters, righties, and then the depth.\u201d<\/p>\n

As expected Thursday, the shortstop Lindor and the left fielder Soto occupied the first two spots in the Mets\u2019 revamped batting order, followed by third baseman Bo Bichette and first baseman Jorge Polanco.<\/p>\n

How Mendoza would draw up the rest of the lineup against flame-throwing Pirates ace Paul Skenes was more of a question mark.<\/p>\n

Mendoza opted to bat center fielder Luis Robert fifth, designated hitter Brett Baty sixth, second baseman Marcus Semien seventh, rookie right fielder Carson Benge eighth and catcher Francisco Alvarez ninth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have gone a lot of different ways, and that goes to show you that we\u2019ve got a deep lineup,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about having a decision whether you hit Alvy ninth or fifth, it goes to show you that they\u2019re capable of hitting anywhere in the lineup. I just thought that [this was the way to go] with how Luis looked in spring training, the track record when he\u2019s healthy, and just continue to create balance here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After missing the playoffs at 83-79 last year, the Mets overhauled their roster in the offseason, trading away Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil while watching Pete Alonso leave for the Baltimore Orioles in free agency.<\/p>\n

Bichette, Polanco, Robert, and Semien were all offseason additions, while Thursday marked the MLB debut of the 23-year-old Benge<\/a>, one of the organization\u2019s top prospects.<\/p>\n

Replacing the production of Alonso and Nimmo \u2014 who combined for 63 home runs and 218 RBI last year \u2014 won\u2019t be easy, but the Mets feel good about the length and balance of this year\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s staggered batting order featured two switch-hitters (Lindor and Polanco) and did not have any righties or lefties hitting back to back.<\/p>\n

The biggest new addition is Bichette, a 28-year-old two-time All-Star who hit .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBI and an .840 OPS last season with the Toronto Blue Jays. He signed a three-year, $126 million contract with opt-outs after the first two seasons.<\/p>\n

But Polanco, Semien and Robert \u2014 a bounce-back candidate who hit 38 home with an .857 OPS in 2023 \u2014 each boast at least one All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Opening Day is different,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cIt is a privilege. It is an exciting day, whether you have the same team, whether you have new faces, big-time turnover \u2026 with coaches, with players, you just feel good about your chances every time you get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlos Mendoza didn\u2019t get many opportunities to deploy his optimal Mets lineup during spring training. Between Francisco Lindor\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[63658,71255,76068,39427,42159,3817,71348,81668,30633,171,173,172],"class_list":["post-207160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-bo-bichette","tag-francisco-lindor","tag-juan-soto","tag-lineup","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-opening-day","tag-paul-skenes","tag-pirates","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}