On Friday, it wasn't so much that Jose Iglesias was chasing pitches as it was that he missed a few pitches in the strike zone that convinced manager Jose Iglesias to look in a different direction.
Manager Carlos Mendoza started Jeff McNeil at second base and left Iglesias on the bench in Game 5 of the NL CS against the Dodgers.
“It's hard to explain, but I felt like we put McNeil in for Iglesias today…we did it the right way today,” Mendoza said before the Mets beat the Dodgers 12-6 at Citi Field.
McNeil had two RBIs on a sacrifice fly.
He went 0-for-3 in his at-bats.
McNeil last started a game on September 6, when he was hit by a pitch and broke his right wrist.
He returned to the Mets for the NLCS, reaching three at-bats as a pinch hitter (0-for-3) in the first four games of the series.
After making big contributions during the regular season, Iglesias posted an impressive slash line of .227/.261/.227 in 11 postseason games.
“Today I wanted to put McNeil in there and give him a different look and see what happens,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza was asked before the game if he was more concerned about the Mets' pitching or offense.
The Dodgers outscored the Mets 30-9 in the first four games.
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“We're conceding a lot of goals and giving them free passes,” Mendoza said. “We know they control the strike zone, but we've got to do a better job of attacking and executing in the zone. That's the result. They're going to make you pay for it. .”
“For the runs we're not scoring, we're going to take chances as long as we're generating traffic. “We've been getting guys, we're just not having big hits, but we're going to do it at some point. If you do, you will definitely be able to overcome it.”
With the Mets facing elimination, Mendoza said he spoke to players individually and in small groups, but refrained from addressing the team as a whole.
The Mets chartered to Southern California after the game and were scheduled to train at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
