Andy Green talks big hits from Carson Benge and Francisco Alvarez in Mets win
After the Mets won the first game of a split doubleheader over the Braves at Citi Field on Wednesday, interim manager Andy Green discussed the offensive contributions of Carson Benge and Francisco Alvarez, and Sean Manaea talked about what worked for him in his solid outing against Atlanta.
Video Transcript
Andy, early in the season, AJ was really struggling getting to that high pitch, and now it seems like, I'm, I'm sorry, Carson was really struggling to get to that high pitch.
Now it seems like he's made not just an adjustment, but is really, you know, pretty successful at driving that pitch up or above the letters.
What do you think he is doing that is allowing him to be so successful with, with that specific pitch?
I think he trusts himself to get to it.
I know that's kinda cliche to say, but he took a swing the at-bat before where he punched out, and he has this unbelievable ability as a young guy to, to, to punch out and say, "I was trying to shorten up and I did a horrible job with it," and then the next at-bat not have that be baggage in the batter's box.
Like, that resilience is why he can get to just about any pitch at any time.
He's talented.
He trusts himself as an athlete.
He doesn't bog himself down with feelings of, like past failures or a bad at-bat.
And so you always want a guy like that up in the box, 'cause you're always gonna get the best version of him, whether he succeeds or not.
So I, I think he has the capacity and the feel for the barrel to get it to any pitch.
And there aren't necessarily clean holes for him.
He can mess up, 'cause baseball's hard, but, he's doing a really nice job.
That was, that was a big swing for us.
What have you seen in Alvarez's at-bats over the last week or so?
Honestly, since I've sat in this seat over the last month, he's had really good at-bats.
I, I don't know exactly what his, his numbers are.
I see someone who swings it with confidence.
He impacts a ball unlike very few guys in the game.
It comes off hot.
So there's power.
Huge hit in the gap for us today.
A lot of good contact.
Really nice throw there in the ninth, too.
He's doing a lot of really good things.
Mike.
Andy, just, what do you think Maniah has, has found here these last couple of starts?
There's a little more velo today, but I, I just see confidence and conviction.
I, I see someone who is on the attack the entire time that, had that game spun a little bit different, like would've been a situation where going seven or eight was entirely possible.
I, I didn't see him tiring.
He fell behind, behind a couple of really good hitters and paid the price for it there, but the rest of the game he was in total control.
Just great job, a lot of strikes, mixing well, and he just got his fastball up a little bit to miss some barrels.
Doing a really nice job.
Sean, that, that last start, I mean, you're extremely fastball reliant.
Today, I mean, not quite as much, still featuring it quite a bit though.
Just overall, how did you approach this specific lineup today?
At the end of the day, it's always about throwing strikes.
You know, I felt good with my sweeper, and, you know, fastball location was really good today, too.
So, you know, I feel like when I'm doing that, then I'm gonna have pretty good results.
How much does the game plan evolve as the game goes based on what you're feeling on that particular day and, and what you have command of?
Yeah, I mean, I'd say it's pretty much everything.
You know, if I'm feeling good with a pitch then probably gonna throw it more.
If not, then we'll probably stick to the basics and, just try to keep it as simple as possible.
