FLUSHING, NY — How it transpires soon could be the dismissal of Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, not fair by any means but after their 5-4 loss Thursday afternoon and a series to the Nationals at Citi Field, there are no answers.
Frustration, for sure. Mendoza said that and continues to face the media with a similar message: “We need to fix this.”
You can’t fire 26 players, continue to make roster adjustments and stop the bleeding, losing 17 of their last 20 games, rounding out a 10-21 start—the worst since 1981 which is third worst for the franchise. And David Stearns, the architect of this roster, is safe at home because owner Steve Cohen anointed him the chair to win a championship.
But it’s misery at Citi Field, losing six of nine on this homestand that culminated with a CJ Abrams two-run homer off a Luke Weaver changeup as the Mets blew an eighth inning lead.
They lost three series at home to the Twins, Rockies, and Nationals, teams they needed to beat in an attempt at bringing some positives and offering some hope to this miserable month of April.
Instead, the Mets sit in the standings as the worst team in baseball and the owner stays quiet for the moment, though one never knows when he will post a message on X (Twitter) to bring some positives to a disillusioned fan base. And this week, despite announced crowds of 32,000 or more, those were tickets sold and many more stayed home to avoid the misery,
The Mets embark on a three city west coast road trip that sees them visiting the Angels, Rockies, and Diamondbacks. The end of April into May and if the losing continues out west when they return to Citi Field, it will really resemble a ghost town, except with sellouts when the Yankees visit Citi Field for the first set of the Subway Series after the Tigers come to town.
If the Mets don’t pick it up during their west coast road trip vs. the Angels, Rockies and D-backs, Citi Field will be turning into a ghost town throughout the next coming months – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
It can’t be fixed, that is unless the Mets begin a bargain sale and revamp their roster with players in their minor league system. Much too early to sell off and make the roster moves with hefty and questionable contracts to sum up a team payroll exceeding $350 million.
Heck it’s not even Memorial Day, when teams have a better grip of where their season is headed. And it’s months away from an early August trade deadline but the Mets made a minor move and claimed infielder Andy Ibañez off waivers from the A’s which won’t help but offer some roster reinforcement for the time being.
Not the move fans want to hear, then again it’s the end of April and the Mets were never projected to be this bad. Then again, they are bad, miserable some would say.
The two-time LatinoMVP Award winner Francisco Lindor was placed on the Injured List on April 23rd due to a calf strain which he injured on the night Juan Soto returned from his calf strain – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
Three players—Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr.—each on the injured list that offered something. Lindor could be long-term while Robert Jr. and Polanco perhaps return sooner.
Regardless, Robert Jr. and Polanco were not producing with their at-bats though Lindor appeared to begin the process of being locked in with his.
Instead, the leaders of the lineup on this homestand were three-time LatinoMVP Juan Soto and MJ Melendez who smacked a three-run homer to right in the third inning that gave starter Freddy Peralta a chance after the Nationals scored two runs in the second and one in the third.
Again, it’s misery and at that point fans will boo and expect the Mets to lose, though frustration from the players are heard and looking for answers are difficult to find. The manager, he too is constantly asked about job security and continues to try and be positive. What else can Mendoza do, nothing but keep trying and hope tomorrow is a better day even as the Mets fall further into the abyss.
Very few of the Mets face the music (media in my terms) in a solemn post game clubhouse, and when they do, there is that message of frustration—the hope that they can turn this darned thing around.
The message from Weaver who faced the media Thursday and last year across town with the Yankees was “The freedom with which we play day-to-day is being suffocated a little bit,” adding, “The magnification just becomes immense and sleep is lost and the mind wanders and you get into a fixation that you don’t need to be in. The answer is simplifying the process and maybe doing less and enjoying why you do this for a living.”
Carlos Mendoza’s days as the Mets manager could be coming to an end soon if the Mets don’t dig themselves out of their 10-21 mess – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
Try and comprehend that comment as a good collective group of players trying to play good baseball. But for the Mets, it continues to be their mindset to be better with a mentality of turning this around. And in baseball, the mentality is one big hit, less errors, keeping the lead, or getting that huge comeback win.
This collective group continues to fail and the misery continues even with Soto swinging a hot bat—going 5-for-8 with a home run, two doubles, and a walk in the Nationals series.
The Mets scored eight runs in their opening series win Tuesday and looked like they were getting it together. Next two, they fell 14-2 and 5-4, losing any momentum they had.
“We sit here and we tell you guys, ‘it’ll come, this is the game,’” Weaver said. “But those words just don’t hold the same weight when you continue day after day,” referring to losing.
Instead the Mets are two games behind the expansion ‘62 team at this juncture, third worst in franchise history. Only the 2017 Dodgers and 2013 Diamondbacks lost 17 of 20 and won the NL pennant. Team runs, and averages are lowest or at the bottom of the league. The only above average and consistent starters are Clay Holmes,(NL ERA leader with a 1.75) and rookie right-hander Nolan McLean, who leads the league in strikeouts (45) and continues to shine without the offense scoring runs.
Nolan McLean has been one of a just a few bright spots for the Mets this season along with Clay Holmes, leading the National League and in the top-5 in a number of statistical categories – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
And for Wednesday’s starter Peralta, the Dominican right-hander got out of the fifth inning but still got into deep counts, his third no-decision of the season. A veteran NL scout said when I asked what’s wrong: “Everything, tough to overcome and hard to understand.”
Said Weaver: “I’ve been sitting here trying to think about what to even say or what to you are even going to ask and come up with something, I just want to do my job, it’s that simple.”
And it’s simple, the Mets need to win and often but that frustration is here and answers are difficult. Losing does cause a team to not have answers, a winning streak of immense proportions can help but it may be too much to overcome the deficit going into the month of May.
With the Mets 11 games under .500 at 10-21, the Amazin’ have fallen eight games back from the third and final NL Wild Card spot – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
“It’s not good enough,” Mendoza said. “Not a secret. That’s not going to do it. We have to start winning series. It’s not early anymore. We have to turn this thing around. There are no other choices here.”
The manager is right about turning this around. It’s frustration and not his fault, though the question of his job security will continue to arise unless the Mets find a way to win ballgames on a consistent basis.
It’s in the hands of a roster Mendoza is handed.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and columnist at LatinoSports.com with coverage of MLB, boxing, and MLS – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
