In the top of the 8th inning, with Luis Severino continuing his no-hitter against the Cubs, the Mets made a defensive decision and placed utility man Joey Wendle at third base.
However, the “obvious” decision to select Wendle rather than stick with Mark Vientos or bring in Brett Batty, who is not known for his glove, resulted in Chicago having a final 3 on Monday night. In the game we lost 1-1, we were robbed of the equalizer.
With one out and a runner on third base, Nick Madrigal grounded out to third base, but Wendle read it as an opportunity for a double play to end the inning, rather than going for an out at home.
He threw to second baseman Jeff McNeil, driving in Matt Mervis, but Madrigal safely advanced to first base and Michael Busch scored to tie the game at 1-1.
“I thought we had a chance to make a two-point lead on this play,” Wendle said after the loss. “At first I thought the ball was hit a little harder than it actually was. At that point I was already geared up and somewhat focused on reversing the double play. So I got lost and decided to do something else. When I try to do this, it doesn’t work.
“Obviously, through the replays, we had him home. We had a chance to have him home, but we also had a chance to end the inning, and that was my decision, and unfortunately it was the wrong decision. Ta.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expected his star defender to throw home to prevent the tying shot, but still defended his decision.
“Oh, the moment it happened, I thought he was going to go home,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, this means he has now gone back and watched the film and [it’s] One of them is that he wants it back and will probably make the decision to go home there.
“That’s his role. His strength is defense. It’s easy,” he added about choosing Wendle over Batty. “Joey is a pretty good defender.”
Wendle, who the Mets signed to a one-year, $2 million contract in November to strengthen their infield, had committed three errors and contributed to three double plays in 25 chances this season through Monday. Ta.
Two of those errors occurred while playing third base on 6-of-17 fielding opportunities, and the other occurred at second base on 16-of-42 opportunities. All three double plays came from Wendle at second base.
Last year with the Marlins, Wendle committed 10 errors and 46 double plays in 335 fielding opportunities as a shortstop.
