After a late return to Citi Field early Tuesday morning, the New York Mets were exhausted. Adam Ottavino, too tired to go home, joined teammate Harrison Bader in the team’s sleep room at the ballpark to catch some sleep.
“Had my wife come pick me up when it was convenient,” Ottavino mentioned at Yankee Stadium before the Mets’ 3-2 win in the Subway Series opener Tuesday night. “I was comfortable. I was happy.”
Following a 6-4 victory over the Marlins on Monday night to wrap up a four-game series, the Mets encountered a delay departing from Miami. Pitcher Luis Severino shared that they waited for over 2 1/2 hours on the tarmac for the plane to be fueled.
“It was terrible,” Severino said, chuckling. “I don’t know how long it takes to put gas in the plane, but it took a long time.”
The Mets finally took off after 2 a.m., landing at JFK Airport around 4:45 a.m. They then bused across Queens to Citi Field, with players heading home around 5:30 a.m., navigating through early morning rush-hour traffic.
First baseman Pete Alonso mentioned he likely fell asleep around 7 a.m.
“Yeah, the flight was nice,” he joked. “We’re good to go. We’re ready to rock today.
“To be honest, it happens a lot. I mean, I know it’s probably a story today because we’re playing the Yankees,” he added. “But it happens way more often, and no one really cares because our job is to go out there and play regardless of the circumstances.
We’re going to give it everything we’ve got. There’s really no excuses. We’re all ready to go. Pretty sure all of us got at least eight hours of sleep, so we’re ready to rock and roll.”
