How the Mets are thinking about their version of a home-run stunt

Teams are having more fun than ever celebrating home runs.

Whether it’s the Red Sox with their inflatable dumb bells, the Orioles’ beer bong or the Pirates’ home-run sword, just to name a few, the level of creativity in such celebrations throughout MLB might be at an all-time high.

The Mets certainly have larger issues to consider — a miserable sweep concluded Thursday in Detroit, extending their skid to nine losses in 11 games — but are among the teams without a celebratory routine for the simple reason they haven’t come up with an idea.

“We haven’t put our minds together, but there have been talks that we have to come up with something at some point,” Francisco Lindor told Post Sports+ this week. “At some point it’ll happen. It’s just a matter of someone comes up with an idea and everyone buying into it.”

The Mets have dabbled with home-run celebrations in recent seasons. Included was the “Home Run Horse” that former hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum suggested in 2021. The stuffed horse was carried by a player after he hit a home run.

But the Home Run Horse’s tenure was brief.

“That got axed,” Pete Alonso said. “That got tired really quickly.”

Other examples of team celebratory tactics include the Reds with a Viking hat and the Angels with a samurai helmet. When the Padres played in Mexico City last weekend, home runs were celebrated by wearing a sombrero.

Last season, the Mets celebrated victories by giving the offensive player of the game a sombrero to wear. The player would sometimes wear that sombrero during postgame interviews.

“We’re still kids, we want to celebrate,” Lindor said.

Alonso is a fan of the celebrations, but isn’t sure in which direction the Mets should turn.

“For us it shouldn’t be forced; something has to come naturally,” Alonso said. “We haven’t really thought about it. We’ve just been focused on trying to win games, not celebrating homers.”

Want to catch a game? The Mets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.

What’s the deal with the 27th man?

The Mets played two doubleheaders this week, which provided an opportunity to clarify the rules for adding extra players.

Teams are allowed to add a 27th player for both games of a doubleheader if it’s scheduled more than 24 hours in advance. For example, the Mets and Braves will play a doubleheader on Aug. 12 — and that will mean the extra player for both games.

But Monday’s doubleheader was the result of a rainout the previous day, so the 27th player was only available for the nightcap. The rule was instituted to safeguard against a situation where a team is playing far away from its Triple-A affiliate and logistically can’t import an extra player before the first game of a doubleheader.

But the Mets and Tigers were rained out Tuesday and played a doubleheader the following day in which the 27th player was available for both games. Why was the extra player available for both games, given that the doubleheader was played less than 24 hours after the postponement?

Simply, the Tigers broached the idea of having the extra player, and the Mets were fine with it. Jose Butto arrived in Detroit from Syracuse before the first game and was available from the bullpen. Butto ultimately pitched 2 ⅓ innings in relief in the nightcap. Butto also had been the Mets’ extra player for the nightcap of Monday’s doubleheader.

On the subject of rainouts, Post teammate Jon Heyman suggested in a column this week that Steve Cohen should invest in a roof for Citi Field.

Realistically, it’s too late now, but the number of doubleheaders played by the Mets in the past few seasons has been downright maddening. That goes for postponements in road cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

Teams don’t want to give up off days to reschedule games, but the expanded interleague schedule means we’ll probably see more of that. After all, there is no other option than giving up an off day if you get rained out in the final day of a series against an opponent that visits or is visited only once. More interleague games will present such logistical challenges.

The same goes for games within the division. It used to be if a July or August game were rained out in Philadelphia or Atlanta, it might be made up during a later visit. But with teams visiting each division opponent for two road series instead of three, the options are more limited.

Scherzer: Let young starters fail

Upon returning this week to Detroit, where he rose to stardom as a pitcher, Max Scherzer noted how much the game has changed in the past decade-plus.

Scherzer pitched for an old-school manager in Jim Leyland, who would have considered it blasphemous to remove a young starting pitcher because of concerns about facing the batting order the third time through or matchups in the middle innings.

“The mentality here with [general manager] Dave Dombrowski and Leyland was letting starters start,” Scherzer said. “I was a young arm and wasn’t refined yet, and earlier in my career, I struggled in going the third time through the order. But with [Leyland] you were going to pitch. He doesn’t care. You do your job: You’re going to go out there deep into the ballgame and you’re going to learn. They put me in positions to fail. You have to learn by failure.”

Scherzer recalled the challenges he faced against Cleveland, which presented him with a tough lineup of left-handed hitters.

“I went out there and got pushed and got better because of that,” Scherzer said. “Looking back on that, you don’t see that attitude anymore, and that’s something that’s disappointing for me personally looking at the game is that we’re so quick to hook the starter to save him and not put him in a situation. No, fail in that situation, and that’s how you get better and develop.”