PORT ST. LUCIE — Spring training exists for conversations like the one Harrison Bader and Drew Gilbert enjoyed.
Early in Mets camp, the veteran and young outfielder, respectively, sat together in the cafeteria at Clover Park and talked about plenty.
Bader recognizes some of himself in Gilbert, both gifted and explosive center fielders with good speed and both physical specimens.
Neither wastes time in the weight room.
The main topic of conversation centered upon taking care of their bodies, particularly in the offseason.
If Bader could redo any part of his career, he said, he would not flash back to strikeouts or errors; he would have tried to find a daily routine earlier that worked for him as a young player.
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“It’s more about what you do behind the scenes, and those unseen hours in the offseason to prepare you to go out there and just be an athlete and play,” Bader said about his message to Gilbert. “I think being someone who just kind of — not necessarily roll out of bed and play baseball — [but] I relied on my tremendous athleticism and my natural ability to get loose to go play, for my speed, all those things.
“As you continue down that path and as you grind away in a major league season, those things deteriorate, and you need to have a training routine specifically designed to maintaining those attributes.”
The two did not want to go into specifics about the ideal routine, but the overall message was conveyed.
Bader, the everyday center fielder, is accepting a mentorship role and Gilbert, an exciting young prospect who might be the future of the position for the Mets, is listening — and has good reason to.
Harrison Bader lends a helping hand to Drew Gilbert with advice in regards to creating a routine as a professional athlete. Corey Sipkin for the NY POSTGilbert, who along with outfielder Ryan Clifford became the trade return for Justin Verlander last season, is a top prospect who wants to reach a major league field.
To do so, he would need to continue showing he can find ways to play every day on minor league fields.
In his first season as a pro after being selected in the first round of the 2022 draft by the Astros, Gilbert lasted 10 games before smashing into an outfield wall trying to make a catch and dislocating his right elbow.
He was gone for the season.
The phrase that follows Gilbert is he “plays with his hair on fire.”
Drew Gilbert fields a ball at Spring Training, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Port St. Lucie, FL. Corey Sipkin for the NY POSTHe goes all-out all the time, which is not always advisable when a season swells to 162 games.
Gilbert slightly dialed it back last season and played in 116 games with the Astros and Mets affiliates.
“It’s picking and choosing when to crash into the wall, right? It’s a tough line,” said Gilbert, who went 0-for-2 in his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday. “You’re trying to make a play for your teammates and your pitcher, but you also want to be out there the next day. It’s a fine line, and I’m still learning and I always will be.
“It’s something I’m adjusting to, and I’d love to pick [Bader’s and Brandon Nimmo’s] brains more about that.”
The Mets, too, want a strong and healthy Gilbert on the field every day.
The 5-foot-9, chiseled ball of energy posted an .868 OPS (with 18 home runs and 12 steals) at High- and Double-A last season.
The lefty can hit for power and contact while playing an exciting and aggressive style of baseball in the field.
His arm is an especially potent weapon after occasionally pitching at the University of Tennessee.
“One of the first things that they told me was how hard this guy plays the game,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not only how hard he plays the game but how he prepares.
Drew Gilbert has been receiving advice from Harrison Bader about how to approach the offseason and the outfield in the major leagues. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST“There’s a lot of things that this guy provides to help the team win baseball games.”
Gilbert finding a routine that works for his body and finding a balance of playing both with hustle and with his head would help him continue to grow.
As would more talks with Bader, who wants Gilbert to find a training routine that maximizes and maintains his strengths rather than simply relying upon those strengths.
“[The conversation was] reminding a young kid who has talent clearly, who has ability, that if you’re going to rely on anything, don’t rely on your natural athleticism,” Bader said. “Rely on your ability to produce that athleticism. … The work behind the scenes to maintain that natural ability is what you really want to focus on. It’s that subtle difference.”
