When asked what the Mets need to improve upon if the team is to meet its high expectations for the 2021 season, manager Luis Rojas pointed to the team's collective defense as a pivotal area.
"Our defense has to get better," Rojas said during his first spring training press conference. "We have to be a better defensive team this year. That's one of our main things to work on this spring."
To improve the team's defense, which ranked 26th in the league in defensive runs saved last year per FanGraphs, Rojas will first have to figure out exactly what his defensive alignment will look like in 2021. First, will Dominic Smith be the team's everyday left fielder? Rojas wasn't ready to commit to that on Wednesday.
"Dom's versatility has always been important to us," Rojas said. "With him playing first and playing left, that's something we're looking to maintain. That's something that's not so much on Pete Alonso's side right now, we can say, Pete has strictly seen a first baseman. As of now today, we see [Smith] playing more left field than he would at first base. That's the plan in place right now."
While Smith might be deployed at multiple positions, Rojas did praise Smith's improvements in the outfield, which has shown on paper as Smith as improved his DRS from -5 in 2018 to 0 in 2020.
"We're comfortable with Dom's defense," Rojas said. "He plays hard and he's always trying to get better out there, and with the addition of Tony Tarasco as our outfield and baserunning coach, he's going to be seeing some new things there as well to keep developing his skills in the outfield."
Similar to Smith, Rojas didn't commit to J.D. Davis being the starting third baseman on Opening Day, with Davis having outfield and first base experience as well. Instead, Rojas plans to capitalize on his widespread versatility and keep his options open for 2021.
"We have to stick to our versatility," Rojas said. "J.D. has played a lot of left field too and we have to think of that. He improved a lot at third base, and we'll probably see him playing more at third base than left field, but we want to keep that versatility."
Davis' future at the hot corner and with the Mets is still in question amid recent reports of the team checking in on third basemen like Matt Chapman and Kris Bryant via trade, in addition to being in on the Justin Turner sweepstakes before he returned to the Dodgers. But Davis is only one year removed from a 2019 campaign where he posted an .895 OPS, and while he's still in a Mets uniform, he could be seen at numerous positions in the field this year, along with multiple others.
"We have so many guys on this roster that can move around and play infield and outfield," Rojas said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
