PORT ST. LUCIE — Curtis Granderson is out to replicate his 2015 season, but is that asking too much of the veteran Mets outfielder?
Both Granderson and hitting coach Kevin Long are banking on not just replication, but improvement — even coming off a season in which the player was probably the team MVP, posting a .259/.364/.457 slash line with 26 homers and 70 RBIs.
Granderson, who turns 35 next week, has a simple explanation for his rebound 2015, after a disappointing first year with the Mets.
“I got injured twice in that last season before I became a free agent, so I missed a lot of at-bats,” Granderson said Wednesday. “To try to gain those at-bats in over the course of a 2014 season, that spearheaded me to give me a chance to be more consistent in 2015.
“I don’t want to necessarily say better — just more consistent — because I had 150-plus games played and I followed it up with another 150-plus games played, so it helped me out.”
Granderson hit just .183 in 126 at-bats against lefties last season, so it’s obvious where the Mets would like to see improvement.
But Long puts some of the blame on himself: Because the Mets didn’t face may lefties early last season, the hitting coach says he didn’t have Granderson work on it enough.
“What we had usually done in the past is when we’re about to face a lefty, I would throw to him,” said Long, a lefty. “And I didn’t start that process until later in the year and we should have started it a little sooner. Both he and I agreed on that. Today we did some lefty [batting practice] and we’re going to continue that.”
Granderson, who had been bothered by an eye irritation, played his first Grapefruit League game of the spring on Wednesday and finished 2-for-3 in the Mets’ 4-4 tie with the Yankees at Tradition Field.
In the short-term, Granderson’s challenge will be making up the at-bats he missed over the last week — unlike many veterans, he likes the early repetitions.
“Initially I thought about it and I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to miss games, how is that going to work?’ ” Granderson said. “But then I actually started counting the games I actually would have played in. It probably would have been three up to this one, so I’m not too far behind.”
Plate discipline may have fueled Granderson’s rise last year, when the Mets inserted him into the leadoff spot and never moved him.
“Just a shorter swing,” said Long, who spent four seasons as Granderson’s hitting coach with the Yankees. “I think better decisions in the strike zone — really controlled at-bats. As well as I’ve ever seen a guy control at-bats throughout a season from strike zone to swinging at strikes to never really searching for his swing or never really out of whack.
“He was in rhythm and his timing was good all year. The consistency was at a level that I haven’t seen him have.”
From manager Terry Collins’ perspective, Granderson put the team first last season, sacrificing power to become a leadoff hitter.
“He still hit 25 home runs, but he said, ‘I’ve got to get on base a little more, I’ve got to draw some base on balls,’ and he did that,” Collins said. “At the end of the season you break it down, he had to be our MVP for the job he did for getting on base and creating power and playing right field. He was just out there every night.”
