Buck Showalter accepted the blame and absorbed it. Maybe he was at fault, or maybe he was simply shielding against critiques better aimed at Billy Eppler.
With the game on the line Saturday night, the Mets manager asked Tomas Nido – a light-hitting catcher when healthy and an even lighter-hitting catcher when ailing with a banged-up hand – to take the largest at-bat of the game. The Mets trailed by one with two outs and runners on the corners with Padres lefty Taylor Rogers on the mound. Showalter kept lefty-hitting Jeff McNeil stapled to the bench as a catcher who’s been treading the Mendoza line all season stepped up and predictably failed with a game-ending pop-out.
Showalter said he wanted to stay away from McNeil, who just became a father and had been flying back and forth across the country for the All-Star Game.
“Jeff was a good option. I thought Nido was a good option, too,” Showalter said because that is what he is supposed to say.
