NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS VS DODGERS

October 16, 2024

Carlos Mendoza

Citi Field

New York Mets

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Dodgers - 8, Mets - 0

Q. One of the things that you guys have done so well, especially as the season's gone on, is play crisp defensive games. What did you see overall from the group in that second inning?

CARLOS MENDOZA: We didn't make a couple of plays, obviously. Weak ground ball to Alvie, it's a bang-bang play at second base. I don't know if Iglesias would have caught that ball, he would be out. Maybe tried to do a little too much there.

And then obviously Sevy couldn't make that play on that comebacker, potential double play. We only get one out. So when you're giving a team like this extra outs, extra bases, they're going to make you pay.

Q. Between that defensive play from Alvarez, the miscue, and then the night overall offensively, what are you seeing out of him during this recent stretch?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I think offensively he's in between. I think he's late making his move, which is not allowing him to make some good swing decisions. That's why you see him at times taking the fastball or late on the fastball and then chasing.

That tells you right there that we have a guy that is late getting ready.

But he's a good hitter. He's a good player. We're facing an elite pitching staff as well. He'll come through for us.

Q. I know this isn't a normal thing to do in an NLCS, but would you consider playing Torrens for a day?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Alvie is playing tomorrow.

Q. With Nimmo, I think he originally said it hurt him when he stopped and started. He seemed to be in pain in the box some today. Was that worse than you guys expected?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Not really. I've been checking with him. As a matter of fact, I checked with him where he wanted to continue and play finish that game. He said, yeah, I'm good to go.

That's when it bothers him the most, whether it's jogging, when he has to stop. When he has to go full speed or at the box offensively, he's fine.

Q. With two shutouts in three games now, is there any common thread you're seeing offensively? And saying you're going to play Alvarez tomorrow is there anything you can do as a manager to shake things up, whether that's putting McNeil in there or anything you can think of?

CARLOS MENDOZA: We're facing Yamamoto, as far as I know. I think they announced it. When you look at his numbers, his splits, he's reversed. He's been a lot better against lefties.

I would anticipate our righties to be in the lineup tomorrow.

The guys that are in there got us to this point. And I'm pretty confident they'll come through.

Yeah, you're playing playoff, and when you're facing a pitching staff like that it's going to be hard at times.

We are creating traffic. I like the fact that we are getting guys on base. Just haven't been able to come up with a big hit but I'll continue to take my chances with guys. As long as we continue to create traffic, somebody's going to come up and get that big one for us.

Q. You guys did have quite a few well-struck deep drives into maybe some wind tonight. Which of those stands out to you as the most surprising that nothing came of it?

CARLOS MENDOZA: There's a couple of them. Vientos for sure. I think he was 1 of 4 or 1 of 5. That ball a month ago is a homer.

Lindor, the second one I think, too. But it's nothing new for us. We will continue to hit the ball hard. Our job is to control the strike zone and hit the ball hard. And today we hit a few of them and they caught it at the warning track.

Q. Would you like to see your pitchers attack the zone more and not nibble as much, where the walks are getting a lot of traffic on base for them?

CARLOS MENDOZA: For sure. Especially when you're facing a team like this. That's what makes this team such a good team offensively because they control the strike zone. They're not going to chase as much. They don't have guys there that chase as much.

And then they can hit the ball out of the ballpark. They can get on base. So, yes, we've got to not only get ahead but we've got to continue to stay on the attack and execute pitches. If we get behind in counts, they're going to make us pay.

Q. In the sixth inning I know they had the lefty, Banda, warming up. Why did you like the match-up with Iglesias versus Brasier versus maybe or McNeil or somebody versus their left-hander with two right-handed bat coming up?

CARLOS MENDOZA: You said it. It's the lefty against one of our lefties or Iglesias against Brasier. Iglesias has been one of our best hitters with runners in scoring position all year. He had a infield single, nice line drive right at Mookie.

So I'm going to take -- especially with them having the lefty ready. So I don't think that was a conversation. For the guys behind him maybe. The lefties were ready, but not for Iglesias knowing they had the lefty ready there.

Q. Talk about the balance between like going with the guys who kind of brought you here and going with guys who played every day for you versus maybe trying something different or trying to play the hot hand?

CARLOS MENDOZA: As of right now, I'm going to continue to ride our guys. They got us here. They will continue to step up.