Much has been made about the recent epic spiral of the New York Mets. What was originally thought to be a cold stretch for the team, has since evolved into the identity of it. After an early August sweep of the San Francisco Giants, the Mets have not won a series since, and have been swept on multiple occasions. Since the trade deadline, the Mets have faltered on multiple fronts. Whether it has been inconsistent production from the lineup, fourth inning implosions, or terrible timing on the part of Carlos Mendoza’s decision making, this team has just downright been hard to watch. With the recent struggles, it has caused a lot of dialogue about the safety of not only Mendoza’s job, but also that of hitting coach Eric Chavez. It seems the only coach that hasn’t been scrutinized recently is Antoan Richardson, who has helped the Mets steal bases at an elite clip this season.
How much of these recent struggles can truly be blamed on the coaching staff though? When the Mets ran into the buzzsaw that was the San Diego Padres, they had just come off of a 7-game winning streak that seems like forever ago. At that point, the lineup was hitting well, and the starters were holding up to their end of the bargain to an extent. Yet, starting with the July 29 loss to the San Diego Padres, the team seems like they just took a nosedive. Sure, they ran into some good pitchers, and the teams that they then started to face just happen to make up some of the hottest in baseball, but the play on the field has been less than spectacular.
There are a few moments that make you scratch your head when it comes to the decisions Carlos Mendoza has made. Primarily, it seems like he has not been able to grasp a feel for his pitchers this season. It seems that every move he makes, or doesn’t make, in regards to pitching has blown up on him recently. The microscope was severely focused on Mendoza in the Milwaukee series, where two head-scratching moves resulted in a Mets loss. In the first loss of the series, the Mets had an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth inning. After doubling with two outs, Starling Marte was left in to run when Jeff McNeil dropped a single into the outfield. Marte was gunned out at home, and that signified the beginning of a rough week in Milwaukee. It would have made sense to plug in the speedier Tyrone Taylor at second, who would have given the Mets a better chance to score and tie the game.
For the Saturday game of the series, the Mets elected to go for an opener for Frankie Montas’ turn in the rotation. Reed Garrett opened well for the team, but then Montas was instantly plugged into the game, and instantly gave up the lead in the second inning. Montas has been awful this season, and while the Mets couldn’t skip his turn in the rotation, the use of an opener was pointless.
With those scenarios in mind, the blame still can’t be placed squarely on Mendoza. His players have simply just under-performed, and all of their flaws have been exploited fully. Clay Holmes, determined to be a starter, is clearly fatigued. Sean Manaea is not his healthy self as he battles through loose bodies in his elbow. Juan Soto has had as mixed a bag as you can in his first season with the team. Despite closing in on a 30-30 season, he has evaporated when runners are on base, a dramatic turn from when he hit .345 with runners on base last season. Every pitcher in the league knows that to beat Soto, you just have to throw up and into him, and he can’t resist swinging.
If there is a place to blame, it is fair to say that it is on the team, coaching staff, and David Stearns. At the end of the day, Stearns did not do enough during the offseason or trade deadline to create a firm rotation, the coaching staff has pressed the wrong buttons and not made adjustments, and the players have just flat out stopped responding to adversity. The silver lining is that thanks to the strong start to the season, the team is still in the thick of the playoff race. They have some pitching reinforcements in Nolan McLean and potentially Brandon Sproat on the way, which should provide a jolt of optimism. This upcoming stretch of games against the red-hot Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and Braves should determine the fate of the season. If any of the coaching staff or players can make adjustments- this team still has the talent to make a playoff run.
Everybody pointed out that the Mets pitching was carrying the team the 2/3 of the season. They were in first place on July 31st. Since August 1st the pitching has been suspect. The starters aren't giving length and the bullpen has been giving up leads. Montas has been a bust. Manaea isn't pitching like last year. Sanger hasn't been pitching like before his injury this year. Holmes appears to be fatigued. Hensley is a disaster and Rogers is showing wear and tear. Mendoza has to be more selective with his bullpen choices, Senga and Manaea have to turn it around and Mendoza has to monitor Holmes closely. The pitching needs to improve, at least to the point of their past performance.
The hitting features a lineup of average or above average hitters every night. The Achilles heel is RISP this season. They have lacked a spark or a big hit in many games. When they do come back the bullpen has been coughing up the lead.
The players need to execute.
I put 90%, if not more, of the blame on the players. It’s easy to second guess Mendoza for not running for Marte but I’m not sure that the difference between him and Taylor is as big as it’s made out to be. If Marte had been at first and you had Acuna to run and hopefully steal a base, that’s a no brainer. Running for him with Taylor is not as much of a no brainer to me. There’s moves, particularly bullpen decisions, that can be questioned but I don’t think Mendoza deserves much of the blame.
As far as those who will blame Stearns for not doing enough to shore up the rotation, I have a few thoughts. First, he had both Senga and Manaea coming back from injury so it was reasonable in my mind to expect that they would be good rotation pieces. They haven’t so far. Second, if you wanted him to trade for a starter you need to know what the asking prices were, which none of us do. Would you give up 2 of Williams, Benge, McLean and Tong, along with someone else, for Alcantara and his post TJ surgery stats? And what if they were asking for more?
To me this crappy streak is due to crappy play on the field. The bullpen, including the new pieces, has sucked. No one expected Helsley to be this bad. More importantly, they do whatever it takes to lose every game. Hitters start to hit and put up a pile of runs - well the starter will suck that day. Get a rare good start - the hitters take off that day. Have a lead late - the bullpen F’s it up. There are a lot of players with a track record that are playing terrible. To me it’s the players.