PHILADELPHIA — Robinson Cano keeps getting the keys to the three-hole in the Mets’ lineup, even as he tries to shift out of reverse.
The 36-year-old second baseman was back in his regular spot Tuesday, and despite going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, he still ended the night with the lowest batting average (.228) and OPS (.646) in the lineup, pitcher not included. Mickey Callaway is picking comfort over productivity, hoping the former leads to the latter.
“There’s no magic spot that’s going to allow him to hit better,” Callaway said before Cano had his first multi-hit game since May 16 in the Mets’ 7-5 loss to the Phillies. “There’s going to be pretty good hitters hitting around him, no matter where you put him. So what you try to do is put him in a spot to help him out the most. I think at this point, he’s comfortable in the three-hole.”
Callaway said the team would not “pigeonhole” Cano into the third spot all year, but he has batted there in 49-of-51 starts this season.
Since using a nine-game hot streak to raise his batting average to .284 on April 26 — his highest mark of the season, not including the first three games — Cano is 20-for-111 (.180) with a .519 OPS over his past 31 games, which included two trips to the injured list for a strained quad. He also added a fielding error Tuesday on a tough night defensively.
But Callaway said comfort in a certain spot in the lineup — Cano has hit third in 40 percent of his career starts — is “very, very important,” especially to players when they are struggling.
Asked if he would be OK with moving down in the lineup, Cano said he had not thought about it. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s former client later said he was focused more on winning, not the batting order.
Both Callaway and Cano chalked the struggles up to hitting the ball hard right at people, which Cano avoided once Tuesday with an RBI single grounded up the middle. His batting average on balls in play was .263 — down from the .319 he posted in the 14 seasons before this — meaning there may be some bad luck involved. His hard-hit percentage of 43.8 is down from his average of 45 (recorded by Statcast since 2015).
Cano, a .304 hitter before this season, was suspended 80 games last year after testing positive for a banned substance. Callaway believes half a season is not enough of a sample size to say Cano isn’t himself anymore.
“At this point, I don’t think 80 games is fair to say he’s declined in any way,” Callaway said. “I think there’s a lot of people in this industry that understand that Robinson Cano’s a hitter. He hasn’t lost bat speed. So we just got to get him confident and get him going again. He’s going to hit.”
