This Week in Mets: Travis Jankowski and the meaning of clubhouse chemistry

June 10, 2024

“You’re a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up and dust yourself off
And back in the saddle.”

— “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” Shakira and John Hill

NEW YORK — Travis Jankowski tells a funny story about Joey Votto. When Jankowski was just settling in as a young outfielder in San Diego, he found himself on first base during a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Votto, one of the friendliest men in the game, complimented Jankowski on his swing, then offered an icebreaker that caught Jankowski off guard.

“He says: ‘Hey, you’re a Stony Brook guy,’” Jankowski recalled. “I’m like: ‘What? Joey, how’d you know that?’ He was like: ‘Dude, I watched you in the College World Series. Stony Brook. Man, great school.’”

On the surface, Jankowski understands he can be easy to overlook. He is a 30-year-old outfielder who has just twice had more than 300 at-bats in eight major-league seasons. He probably earned his journeyman merit badge in March when he signed with the Mets, joining his fourth organization in the past four years. He is a former first-round pick — which shouldn’t be forgotten — but he did play his college baseball at Stony Brook, not exactly a college baseball blue blood, leading the underdog Seawolves to an unlikely spot in the 2012 College World Series.

All of which is context for Jankowski’s comments in early May, when he told reporters that he was wholly embracing his role as a part-time outfielder who offered speed and defense in the late innings. “No one’s gonna be buying my jersey,” Jankowski said. “But I still think that there’s a big part of what I bring to the table that’s very important.”

No one, of course, except for a slew of passionate Mets fans who appreciate a good meme and, later, his own teammates, who surprised Jankowski with a box of white Jankowski T-shirts before Friday’s series opener against the Mariners, which were then worn during pregame work on Saturday.

“It’s more than just a T-shirt,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, drawing a connection between the gesture and the chemistry that can define winning clubs.

“I think people rally around that,” Showalter added. “And it creates a good karma in the clubhouse.”

Jankowski never figured out who was behind the shirts. Eduardo Escobar presented them during a team meeting, though Jankowski suspected that might have been because Escobar had the most service time among position players. (“I wish I knew,” he said.) He was a little embarrassed by the shirts, though he appreciated the gift — and the good-natured spirit behind it.

“Come on, did I appreciate it?” he said, offering a sly smile. “It was great. It was definitely not needed.”

If anything, he said, it validated his belief in the special environment in the Mets clubhouse, where he has quickly found a home — and where the possibility of cult status looms for any reserve who can put up numbers and endear himself with a devoted fan base. When Jankowski signed with the Mets in March, the club was looking for outfield depth and perhaps some speed and athleticism off the bench. Jankowski, meanwhile, was searching for a place to play — and win. In his eighth season, he had appeared in just one postseason game, as a reserve for the Reds in 2020, when he stole a base in a 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves. When he arrived in New York, he witnessed a club that was positioned to succeed but one that could use a glue guy or two.

Jankowski has offered production off the bench, hitting .291 with a .371 on-base percentage in his first 35 plate appearances. On Saturday, he made his 10th start (and his second in left field). On Sunday, he was back on the bench during the Mets’ 8-7 loss to the Mariners.

The Mets lost a series for the first time, but they did twice respond from three-run deficits and almost pulled off another comeback in the bottom of the ninth. It might, of course, be a slightly strained narrative to credit the culture in the Mets clubhouse with their ability to mount comebacks, though after just over a month in New York, Jankowski said he sees something special brewing.

“It’s good to be in a clubhouse where a role player gets recognition,” Jankowski said. “I think that gets overlooked a lot. So I said it earlier: This clubhouse is different in the sense that everybody cares about each other.”

The exposition

The Mets can no longer claim to be the only team in the majors that hasn’t lost a series. The run ended Sunday when starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco was hit hard, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings, and the bullpen invited a little more scrutiny with another suspect effort. This time, it was Chasen Shreve, Drew Smith and Joely Rodriguez combining to give up four runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The real losses, however, came when catcher James McCann was lost for six weeks with a broken bone in his left wrist, and starting pitcher Tylor Megill hit the injured list with biceps tendinitis. The Mets received good news when Megill’s MRI did not reveal anything too serious. But they will likely be forced to use Trevor Williams in a spot start on Monday in a series opener against St. Louis and then find ways to cover for Megill, who was one of the club’s most pleasant surprises before he was battered around in a loss at Washington last week.

In a silver lining, perhaps the biceps tendinitis helps explain Megill’s last start. But Megill threw just 130 innings last year between the minors and the majors, and the Mets might need to keep an eye on his usage once he returns.

How’s Jacob deGrom’s progress coming?

The pitching possibilities

vs. St. Louis

RHP Trevor Williams (0-2, 5.73 ERA) vs. RHP Miles Mikolas (3-1, 1.49 ERA)
RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.00) vs. LHP Steven Matz (3-3, 6.40)
RHP Max Scherzer (4-1, 2.66) vs. RHP Jordan Hicks (1-3, 4.15)
RHP Chris Bassitt (4-2, 2.34) vs. RHP Dakota Hudson (3-2, 3.06)

at Colorado

RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-1, 3.19) vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.00) vs. TBA

What can we learn about the Mets this week?

Is Starling Marte settling in? Marte was 5-for-13 with four extra-base hits in three games against Seattle. He scored three runs in Saturday’s victory and raised his OPS 45 points to .714 during the series.

Marte, 33, entered Sunday slashing .269/.315/.403 in his first season in New York, which would represent his worst OPS since a partial season in 2017. The numbers, though, look a little better in the context of the offensive environment of 2022: As of Sunday, Marte’s OPS+ was 109, or still above league average.

“He’s kind of ahead of the league norm,” Showalter noted. “He’s driving in runs.

“It’s not yet the level that I think he’s gonna be. But it’s still been OK.”

Showalter then referenced two recent conversations he’s had with Marte, who is in his 11th season with stops in Pittsburgh, Arizona, Miami and Oakland. The talks, Showalter said, offered a window into Marte that is often not seen because of the language barrier.

“I think as the season progresses, as you get to know Starling, (he’s a) pretty good kid,” Showalter said. “I think sometimes because of the initial language barrier, we don’t really know how deep a thinker he is and how he really has the right amount of emotional caring, so to speak. He cares and he loves winning.”

Know your enemy

The Cardinals, 19-15, are coming off a series victory at home against the Giants over the weekend. The Mets previously took two of three from the Cardinals in St. Louis in late April. The first victory featured a five-run ninth inning that was capped by Dom Smith’s hustle up the first-base line on an infield single and a two-run homer from Brandon Nimmo.

The Mets will again see old friend Steven Matz, whose ERA spiked after he yielded eight runs in two innings against the Giants on May 7. It was his second time this season he’s given up at least seven earned runs in a start.

The Mets will also avoid Adam Wainwright, who started Sunday.

I looked up a stat

The Mets are 11-1 after a loss. The last (and only) time they lost two in a row came on April 10 and April 11, against the Nationals and Phillies, respectively.

I looked up a stat, Part 2

The Mets will play their 40th game this week, likely on Thursday if the weather cooperates. There’s nothing all that sacred about the 40-game mark, though prepare for a week of errant references to the “quarter pole,” which in horse racing is actually the moment in the race where there is 25 percent of the course remaining. Last year, the Mets were 22-18 at the 40-game mark, which was good enough for first in the NL East.

For the record, last year the Mets hit the 40-game mark on May 22. At that point, just one of the teams in first place — the White Sox — would go on to win its division.

That’s one season’s worth of data, of course, and extremely anecdotal. But it’s a reminder: It’s a long season.

Prediction

Brandon Nimmo is going to WAR his way into down-ballot MVP consideration for the first time in his career.

(Photo of Travis Jankowski and Buck Showalter: Mark Goldman / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kmxobG5nbnxzfJFrZmltX2aDcMDHoqpmr5WauG61zWaknqyjYsGzrdWiqmaikaO4sMPSpKBmmZ6ZerW0xGaknpmenruoec6fZJykpZe1sMHSnmScoJWitrTA0bJm