Mets’ Andy Green confident A.J. Ewing will ‘punch back’ as strikeouts pile up amid rough stretch

A.J. Ewing took the league by storm, playing his game to open his rookie campaign.

>After raking through the minors, the 21-year-old quickly settled in at the big leagues, establishing himself as a regular in the Mets’ outfield and atop their lineup.

>He did so by utilizing his speed and being his usual on-base machine.

>Like every rookie, though, Ewing was bound to go through his fair share of tough stretches at the plate as the grind of the regular season stretches on.

>That’s been the case for the youngster of late.

>With an 0-for-5 showing in Saturday night’s loss to the Dodgers, he is now hitless across nine at-bats over the first two games against the defending champs.

>Ewing was also punched out two more times, giving him a whopping 26 this month.

>He’s currently tied with Francisco Alvarez for the second-worst K-rate on the team (26.7), trailing Brett Baty by percentage points for the highest (26.8).

>Despite the rough stretch, interim manager Andy Green isn’t concerned.

>“Every hitter goes through situations where things happen in bunches,” he said.

>“It’s just about getting back to his strength -- when he first showed up it was laying off pitches out of the zone -- but it’s easy when you get into a situation where you’ve struck out more than you’re comfortable you think you just have to swing, which typically makes it worse,” the skipper continued.

>“But he’s going to be fine -- he has more punchouts than I know he is comfortable with right now, but he’s learning and that’s part of it -- I see him plenty capable that he’s going to respond, but at this moment it’s time to punch back.”

>The Mets certain need Ewing to punch back soon after losing a massive piece in the middle of their lineup this weekend, with Juan Soto landing on the IL due to a Grade 2 left calf strain.