PHILADELPHIA — The Mets saved the baseball Tuesday night after clinching their first win of the season, planning to present it to Steve Cohen to mark his first victory since buying the team over the winter.
So perhaps they should have sent someone Wednesday to the right-field seats at Citizens Bank Park to track down another keepsake for Cohen after J.T. Realmuto — whom the hedge-fund billionaire passed on during the winter — crushed a three-run homer to push the Phillies toward an 8-2 win.
It was easy to imagine over the offseason that this week — the Mets’ first visit of the year to South Philly — would be Realmuto’s return wearing blue and orange. The Mets, once Cohen emerged last summer as the franchise’s likely buyer, were pegged to be big spenders.
They needed a catcher, and the game’s premier catcher happened to be a free agent. It was a perfect match.
But it never came to be. The Mets were in a hurry to fill their need and Realmuto wanted to see his market take shape. The Mets instead signed catcher James McCann in December for $40 million, which was $75 million less than the Phillies gave Realmuto a month later.
The Mets still had a strong offseason as they finished it by trading for superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor and signing him to a $341 million extension. Cohen, who is worth $14 billion, allocated his money elsewhere after skipping on Realmuto.
But it still had to sting a little on Wednesday when Realmuto lifted Jacob Barnes’ fastball to right field.
The Phillies have won five of their first six games, winning series against two divisional rivals. The start of their schedule presented a stiff test. So far, they’re passing it. They’ll enjoy a day off Thursday in Atlanta atop the National League East before opening a three-game series Friday with the reigning division champs. Another test awaits.
They relied on their pitching for their first four wins before their offense sparked on Thursday. The Phillies scored four times in the first inning, providing some comfort for Aaron Nola on a day when he didn’t have his best stuff. Nola allowed just one run, but only lasted four innings.
He loaded the bases in the fourth inning and escaped without damage, but his pitch count climbed to 92. The Phillies would ask their bullpen for 15 outs. Their four-run first inning no longer seemed to be enough.
And then Rhys Hoskins, who homered in the first inning, started the fifth with a double to left field. Bryce Harper followed with a perfectly placed bunt down the first-base line and slid head-first into the bag. He caught the Mets by surprise and the Phillies had two runners on base with no outs for the catcher they waited to sign this offseason.
The Phillies started the season with four straight wins, but had homered just two times in their first five games. It was not the way they expected to win games this season. Yes, the Phillies will need pitching to reach October. But the route there becomes quite difficult if the offense does not produce the way it was built to.
And that’s why it was comforting to see Realmuto drive a first-pitch fastball 392 feet to give the Phillies a six-run lead. Cohen once paid $410,000 for the ball that skipped past Bill Buckner in 1986 and helped the Mets win the World Series. Maybe the fan who caught Realmuto’s home run on Wednesday could see if Cohen is interested. After passing on Realmuto this winter, a souvenir is as close as Cohen can get to the baseball’s best catcher.
