"The Catcher Switched to Third. Then to Second. Then Back to Third. 22 Times."
James Wagner, New York Times, August 17, 2017
An hour and a half before the Mets' 5-3 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday night, catcher Travis d'Arnaud was told he was needed to switch positions because of an emergency. This surely came as a surprise to d'Arnaud; in his 11 years of professional baseball, he has been exclusively a catcher, save for a two-game cameo at first base five years ago in the minor leagues.d'Arnaud: "I wanted to make a diving play. I wanted to make a diving play down the line, to rob someone of a base hit like people do to me."
But with second baseman Jose Reyes and third baseman Wilmer Flores both scratched from Wednesday's lineup during batting practice because of sore ribs, the Mets needed d'Arnaud to handle something altogether different: He was told he would be starting at third, where he would be in the unfamiliar position of staring in at batters instead of crouching behind them. ...
So 45 minutes before first pitch, d'Arnaud took some ground balls at third base at Citi Field. His second surprise of the night came once the game started. To hide d'Arnaud's defensive limitations, Mets Manager Terry Collins shifted him between third and second base throughout the game, depending on everything from the batter at the plate to the likelihood of a potential double play.
In other words, when a right-handed batter was up, the Mets shifted the lifelong infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, who started at second base, to third so that he could field a ball likely to be hit to the batter's dominant side. When a left-handed batter was at the plate, d'Arnaud went back to third.
What resulted was 22 switches between d'Arnaud and Cabrera, and a box score that most like had few precedents in baseball history. ...
Despite the dizzying number of switches, the plan worked for the most part. Cabrera fielded a handful of ground balls at third base when d'Arnaud was at second, and d'Arnaud did not need to turn a double play. In fact, he only handled one ball all night, a pop-up to second base in the ninth inning of the Mets' loss.
The Daily News also mentioned 22 switches, as did MLB.com. The Post reported 23 switches. However, looking at the play-by-play at both MLB.com and Baseball Reference, I count only 18 changes:
Top 1st:
Travis d'Arnaud began the game at 3B; Asdrubal Cabrera began the game at 2B.
Top 2nd:
Robert Gsellman pitching.
Gary Sanchez lined to left.
Chase Headley walked.
Headley to second on wild pitch.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Headley to third on passed ball.
Garrett Cooper grounded to third, Headley scored.
Ronald Torreyes lined to shortstop.
Top 3rd:
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Jaime Garcia grounded out to second.
Jacoby Ellsbury lined to right.
Aaron Hicks grounded to shortstop.
Top 4th:
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Aaron Judge homered to left.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Didi Gregorius lined to second.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Sanchez struck out swinging.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Headley doubled to right.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Cooper grounded to third.
Top 5th:
Torreyes flied to left.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Garcia struck out swinging.
Ellsbury popped to shortstop.
Top 6th:
Hicks flied to left.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Judge singled to left.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Gregorius walked, Judge to second.
Sanchez walked, Judge to third, Gregorius to second.
Paul Sewald relieved Gsellman.
Headley flied to center, Judge scored, Gregorius to third.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Cooper lined to shortstop.
Top 7th:
Torreyes doubled to left.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Brett Gardner hit for Tommy Kahnle.
Gardner bunted to catcher, Torreyes to third.
Ellsbury walked.
Hicks walked, Ellsbury to second.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Judge popped to catcher.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Didi Gregorius doubled to right, Torreyes and Ellsbury scored, Hicks to third.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Sanchez grounded to third.
Top 8th:
Chasen Bradford relieved Sewald.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Headley singled to left.
Cooper struck out swinging.
Torreyes singled to right, Headley to second.
Josh Smoker relived Bradford.
Gardner struck out swinging.
Ellsbury grounded to first.
Top 9th:
Erik Goeddel relieved Smoker.
Travis d'Arnaud moved from 3B to 2B; Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 2B to 3B.
Todd Frazier hit for Adam Warren.
Frazier popped to second.
Judge struck out swinging.
Asdrubal Cabrera moved from 3B to 2B; Travis d'Arnaud moved from 2B to 3B.
Gregorius grounded to first.
Neither ESPN's box score nor its play-by-play accurately reflected what happened. Its box score showed that both players had played two positions: "Cabrera, 2B-3B" and "d'Arnaud, 3B-2B". But the play-by-play gave no indication that the players ever switched positions (not even once!) during the game.
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