LOS ANGELES — The thinking, of course, was to put the veteran right-handed bat, Michael Cuddyer, in left field and keep the rookie left-handed bat, Michael Conforto, on the bench for the Mets against the monster that is Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw in Friday’s 3-1 Mets win in Game 1 of the NLDS.
It made sense. The problem was it also put the veteran glove in left and placed the better defender on the bench.
The Mets, however dodged two early bullets, thanks to Jacob deGrom. Cuddyer misplayed a pair of balls in left field, both leading to Dodgers doubles, but deGrom worked around each.