Not so for Harrison Bader.
Before Wednesday, he had batted second more than 60 times in his career when manager Carlos Mendoza rested Brandon Nimmo, rotated Pete Alonso for J.D. Martinez, kept Francisco Lindor in the leadoff spot and needed someone to fill the hole behind his shortstop.
The Mets settled on Bader.
The opponent will be left-handed pitcher Braxton Garrett, and Mendoza said that influenced his decision.
And Bader made the manager’s gamble a success, smashing a home run in the first inning (his second in six games) to ignite the Mets’ offense in a 10-4 victory over the Marlins.
“Sometimes it works out,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of his lineup changes, “and I’m happy that it worked out in the first inning today, but as a manager, you take chances, you know your players, you know your personnel and you put them in situations where they’re going to be successful, and it worked out in the first inning today.”
After Lindor led off with a double, Bader trailed 1-2, fouled off a hit and then launched a Garrett sinker 431 feet over the fence. It was Bader’s first home run until his 15th game of 2024.
He finally managed to get his second hit in his 42nd appearance.
But the other two RBIs came later in the calendar in June, coinciding with the same month Bader recorded nine of his 23 RBIs this season.
The first half of Bader’s first season with the Mets wasn’t smooth sailing.
Bader told The Post’s Mike Puma last month that he was “struggling” with his role in the Mets’ outfield crunch, acknowledging he wasn’t handling it well and saying he was “getting more and more angry.”
But lately, Mendoza said Bader has been gaining better control of the strike zone.
He didn’t have to chase much outside of the inevitable pitches that all hitters had to avoid, which led to some productive periods. In the eighth inning, Bader finished with 2 hits in 5 at-bats when he lofted a ball high behind first base that hit Jake Berger’s glove and bounced into right field for a single.
“I think some at-bats or some weeks or some series are better than others,” Bader said about chasing, “but overall, that’s something I always try to do.”
He probably won’t be No. 2 in Thursday’s series finale.
If things continue like this, he may not be there for the rest of the season, likely necessitating a worst-case scenario where Nimmo rests, other members of the lineup are rotated, and a lefty pitcher is back there to face the Mets.
But over the course of a night and five at-bats, Bader showed glimpses of the ability to play the position when needed.
“I think if you put a lot of people in that position, you’re going to be successful,” Bader said. “And [Mendoza] Today, he chose me to be that guy and change things up a bit.”
