A.J. Ewing not letting trying Mets season derail his growth

This has been a miserable season in Queens.The Mets entered Monday in last place in the National League East with only two NL teams owning worse records: the Giants and Rockies.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

A turnaround at this point seems unlikely, since the team’s litany of issues — from injuries to key players, to poor performance from the rotation and the lineup — has left it reeling.One of the few bright spots has been the emergence of the rookie outfielders, as Carson Benge and A.J.Ewing have at least met expectations.Now, they have to make sure they don’t get accustomed to losing.Ewing, the 21-year-old who’s been in the majors a little over a month, acknowledged the challenge of adjusting to the majors while not winning as much as he’s used to.“You’ve got to show up every single day,” Ewing said.

“Everyone in this room is trying to win every day and putting their best foot forward whenever they’re here.There are gonna be ups and downs.

Those are gonna happen, and it’s impossible to avoid them.I’m gonna keep showing up.”That included Monday, when he was scheduled to be in the lineup against Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga before the game was postponed due to rain, with plans to make it up Wednesday as part of a split doubleheader.The Mets have been careful about which lefties the left-handed-hitting Ewing faces.

While Monday was rained out, Ewing nonetheless will have to improve that part of his game in order to reach his potential.In what has a chance of becoming a lost season for the Mets, they’re looking to see what they have in their younger players, like Ewing and Benge.“It’s big,’’ Carlos Mendoza said of getting Ewing in the lineup versus lefties, as he has just a .437 OPS against lefty pitching, compared to .823 against righties.“That’s part of the development at this level,’’ the manager said.“I...