This is not your father’s Mets lineup. It’s hardly even your own Mets lineup from last year.
Sure, there are some new faces, but manager Mickey Callaway has put his fingerprints all over his first Opening Day lineup Thursday as the Mets host the Cardinals at Citi Field.
The most notable tinkering has left fielder Yoenis Cespedes batting second, ahead of right fielder Jay Bruce and cleanup hitter Asdrubal Cabrera. Shortstop Amed Rosario will also bat ninth with Noah Syndergaard slotted in at eighth.
Cespedes has spent the majority of his career hitting third or fourth — including 200 of his 202 starts over the last two years under Terry Collins. He has hit second just 39 times in his 765 career starts.
But the new look is just fine by Cespedes after Callaway showed him some numbers of other teams that had their best hitter batting second.
“I say, if that is what he has to do for the team, if it’s going to be the best for the team, I do it,” Cespedes said Wednesday after a workout at Citi Field. “I’m ready for that.”
Bruce cracked that “Ces’ really just needs to get the guy over from second to third,” almost finishing his joke before letting out a laugh. But the veteran outfielder supported the new-look lineup, pointing to the team’s depth and its potential to score runs aplenty.
Center fielder Brandon Nimmo will man the leadoff spot, third baseman Todd Frazier will bat fifth, followed by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, catcher Kevin Plawecki, Syndergaard and Rosario.
Callaway said both Cespedes and Bruce will benefit from having Rosario batting ninth, another man to get on base before the lineup turns back over. The first-year manager also said that while batting the pitcher eighth is not something he’ll do every game, he believes it will take some pressure off Rosario when he does.
“[Rosario] had a great spring, he was very patient compared to what he had done in the past,” Callaway said. “He worked so hard at it and I wanted to put him in a position where he could continue that approach. Hitting in front of the pitcher could be a hard thing sometimes because guys will try to pitch around you, bury breaking balls, things like that.”
