DJ Stewart doing everything possible to show he is part of Mets future
In what has become a lost season, the Mets are not playing for much apart from their future.
DJ Stewart is playing as if he belongs in that vision.
The Mets’ best surprise of the second half came through again, blasting a pair of home runs and sacrificing his body both for a gutsy catch and a painful, walk-off hit-by-pitch.
When the DJ Stewart Game was over, the Mets had stolen a 6-5 win from the Rangers at Citi Field on Wednesday, where 23,849 chanted a name they did not know a few months ago.
“It was awesome,” Stewart said of the serenade. “It’s been a tough year for us as a team, but you enjoy those little moments.”
The Mets had blown an early three-run lead and were down two when Stewart went to work in the eighth. His second home run of the night, this one a two-run shot, tied the game. His glove ensured it remained knotted.
With a runner on first and none out in the top of the ninth, Marcus Semien’s potentially go-ahead, RBI double chased Stewart back to the right-field wall, where Stewart did not let up.
He crashed into the padding, and the 6-foot, 210-pounder, who is built like a football player, did not drop the ball as he fell hard to the ground.
“There’ll be some crime-scene tape in right field Friday,” manager Buck Showalter said after the Mets (61-73) avoided a sweep and won for just the second time in their past eight games. “Poor wall. The wall lost.”
The Mets survived until the bottom of the 10th, when they loaded the bases against Aroldis Chapman.
The former Yankee drilled Stewart with a 96 mph fastball to give the Mets a welt and a win.
Showalter’s club begins a three-game set with the Mariners on Friday that will include larger rosters and more interesting prospects to watch, notably Ronny Mauricio.
Stewart, a first-round pick of Showalter’s Orioles in 2015, is mounting an argument that he is a late-blooming prospect worth watching, too.
Now 29, he never panned out for Baltimore and became a non-roster invite to Mets spring training.
He hit well at Triple-A Syracuse, watched the Mets disassemble at the trade deadline and has come up and performed quickly.
Stewart has pummeled eight home runs in his past 13 games, boosting his OPS all the way to 1.015.
Maybe this is a flash that will die down. Stewart himself acknowledged that “streaks like this don’t always last.” But he and the Mets will enjoy it as long as the ride continues.
Maybe he is making a lost season somewhat worth watching.
Maybe he is locking down a job somewhere next year.
Maybe he is securing a spot on the Mets.
“I love New York,” Stewart said. “I really enjoy being here. My family enjoys it. I’m hoping I do enough to stay here.”
