PORT ST. LUCIE — Terry Collins knows better than anyone the value of having multiple choice left-handers in the bullpen.
"I got a lot smarter today,'' Collins told The Post Monday at Tradition Field after the Mets crushed the Marlins, 7-1.
No, Collins didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express over the weekend.
General manager Sandy Alderson, the Maverick, went out and traded for two left-handers for the bullpen and now the Mets pen has a fighting chance with the additions of Jerry Blevins from the Nationals and Alex Torres from the Padres.
"It will be a little bit easier to work that bullpen now,'' Collins said. "You're not going to look to one guy where you are going to wear him out. We're going to ask those guys out there to play some big roles, this is just going to save that right-handed pitching.
"I told Sandy I thought it was very, very important that we had a guy who could get a left-handed hitter out.''
Blevins is that guy, the lefty specialist. Lefties hit .160 against him last year although Freddie Freeman is 3-for-6 against him. Robinson Cano is a .125 hitter against the former A's reliever.
"Yes, I'm certainly aware what Freddie Freeman has done against Blevins, but the point is there are other teams where we have to get a left-handed hitter out,'' Collins said. "That guy is going to come up in that situation where we have to get him out and now we have that left-hander to do that.
"You talk to these players and we were missing a piece. We talked about how successful we want to be and there was a piece we needed and today we went out and filled that and got those pieces.''
Left-handed hitting Kirk Nieuwenhuis said he knows what it is like to face Blevins.
"He struck me out on a cutter one time, and the next time I faced him I kept looking for the cutter and he threw nothing but fastballs,'' Nieuwenhuis said. "He keeps you guessing.''
The Mets are a better team today.
"Keep trying to improve things a little bit,'' Alderson said of the two acquisitions that were drastically needed. He admitted he was a "little surprised'' he could land Blevins.
On Twitter, Blevins was excited about the deal and asked Mets' fans to come up with a new avatar for him. They quickly obliged. Blevins, 31, was traded for center fielder Matt den Dekker. Blevins was 2-3 with a 4.87 ERA last season over 64 appearances for the Nationals.
Torres, 27, is best known for wearing the large protective cap while pitching. The Mets sent Cory Mazzoni and a player to be named to San Diego. Torres, who is coming in from Arizona, was 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA last season but issued 5.5 walks per nine innings. His changeup is a big weapon vs. right-handers.
Rule 5 draft selection Sean Gilmartin is another lefty the Mets have in the bullpen.
"This gives us, what was something of a glaring weakness, I think now becomes — could become — a strength,'' Alderson said.
Jerry Blevins has struggled against Braves slugger Freddie Freeman.Photo: AP
As for the club overall, Alderson noted, "We're playing well. We've got some decisions to make, the starting pitching has been uniformly good. We're swinging the bats, scoring runs, there's a reason why we've won a few of these games, but it's spring training, and we all understand that.''
Added Collins, "Today was very big for us. Bullpens are winning championships for teams.''
As the busy day came to an end, team chef Theresa Corderi asked Jay Horwitz, the vice president of media relations, how to spell Blevins' name. She was making lunch for the players for Tuesday's trip to Viera where the Mets play the Nationals.
She made a grilled chicken honey mustard wrap for Blevins, the same lunch she made for Matt Harvey and David Wright.
Got to make the new guy feel at home. He'll have his work cut out for him.
Blevins and Torres need to make Collins look as smart as possible as he pushes those bullpen buttons.
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