Just Mets

At the Winter Meetings in December, the Mets signed John Mayberry Jr. primarily to serve as a right-handed power bat off the bench, and to play against left-handed pitching.

Through the first eight weeks of the season, the team’s investment in Mayberry really hadn’t worked out. He was hitting just .137 with a .483 OPS coming into play on Thursday, and wasn’t hitting against left-handed pitching, his primary job function.

He has been part of a bench which has been downright abysmal for the Mets this season. He was just 1-for-11 with five walks as a pinch hitter this season, a surprise considering he’s a .285 career hitter with seven pinch hit home runs.

But with left-hander Robbie Ray on the mound for the Diamondbacks, Terry Collins went to the well again with Mayberry, only this time, it paid off for the manager.

Mayberry had himself a career night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI with two runs scored at the plate.

“I’ve started to feel better as of late,” Mayberry explained about his performance after the game. “It’s just a matter of keeping my rhythm and timing game-ready. And when I do that, I feel like I can put together consistent at-bats.”

Mayberry recorded a career-high four hits against Arizona on Thursday. He’s had three-hit games 13 different times in his career, the last one coming last June 12, 2014.

“We needed a big night like that from John, and so did John,” Terry Collins said after Thursday’s win.

Part of Mayberry’s problem is the club hasn’t seen too many left-handed pitchers so far this season, so he just hasn’t been used enough. That alone can deaden a player’s bat, and that quite possibly could be a primary problem for Mayberry.

That’s not really an excuse for him – he ultimately has to perform and hadn’t done anything at the plate until Thursday night. But at the same time, it’s also important he get regular reps and get more than seven or eight at-bats a week to keep him from going stale, something which Collins acknowledged after last night.

The Mets can only hope Mayberry’s season started on Thursday night, and their investment is now starting to pay off.

Mayberry improved his average from .137 to .196 on Thursday night. He had seven hits on the year coming into play on Thursday, three of which were extra-base hits. He doubled his extra-base hit output for the yearwith his 4-for-5 night at the plate on Thursday.