The Houston Astros’ scandal has already harmed the New York Mets. Now Jake Marisnick and J.D. Davis have to face their teammates.
The biggest story around baseball this offseason was the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal. The New York Mets were caught in the crossfire when they hired and then fired Carlos Beltran as their manager.
The Mets want that to be the end of it, but there’s more to this story. Two players on their team played for the Astros during their infamous 2017 run—Jake Marisnick and J.D. Davis. Even with their involvement, Michael Conforto and the rest of the Mets are ready to move past this.
2/our guys, separating them from anything ongoing with Astros/RedSox. Felt familiar from steroid era, where guys were furious at perceived cheaters on other teams, but loved/protected the cheating teammate. Fan bases do the same: your guys cheating, my guy is persecuted unfairly
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 11, 2020
Davis played in just 24 games in 2017, but he knew about the cheating. He faced 49 total pitches that year and the Astros banged the trash can on 14 of them. Even if he wasn’t with the team long, he knew.
He has to explain himself to his 2019 teammates. His friends and teammates need an explanation. It’ll be even more difficult for Jake Marisnick who is in his first year with the Mets. It’s likely he’s never even met a lot of players on the team.
Even still, don’t expect much friction. These guys are preparing for the grind of the next seven months at least, hopefully longer. That builds bonds and these guys have to trust each other for that to work.
For better or worse they’re all teammates now, and if the past teaches us anything it’s that guys are quick to forgive their own teammates. The Mets aren’t likely to be any different with Davis and Marisnick. By Opening Day, all of this scandal talk will likely be in the rearview mirror.
