The Mets, Mickey Callaway And The Improbable Post-Season Push

An Op-Ed by R.J. Henle

The New York Mets started a crucial nine-game home-stand with a bludgeoning of the Cleveland Indians 9-2, and the talent on display in Tuesday evening’s contest is why the Mets have a solid shot at a playoff berth.

That is, unless second-year manager Mickey Callaway has anything to do with it.

Following a run that saw the team win 15-of-16 games, jolting them back into the playoff race, the Mets finished their last road-trip 3-3.

Now, the losses aren’t too concerning, but there seems to be trouble brewing below the surface.

Talented

The Mets have an incredible pitching staff headlined by five premiere arms. Arguably the weakest of the five, lefty Steven Matz, still throws 93-96 mph with a decent makeup, his only flaw being that his rough mindset tends to cause him to occasionally falter.

New York also has a solid bullpen with relievers Justin Wilson and Luis Avilan, who have become bigger factors down the stretch. Since the start of the second half of the season, the Mets bullpen and starting pitching have ranked within the top 10 of all major statistical categories.

The offense has been there as well, headlined by batting average leader Jeff McNeil, rookie sensation Pete Alonso, a surging Michael Conforto, a steady Wilson Ramos and J.D. Davis.

Davis, who leads all of baseball in batting average since early July, has been a pleasant surprise for the Mets, as out of 394 hitters who have at least 100 plate appearances this season, just three have both a higher xBA and xwOBA than Davis. Those three players are MVP contenders Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and Anthony Rendon.

Everything looks good on paper; however, the Mets will not be earning a spot in the post-season if Callaway continues to make decisions detrimental to the team.

Managerial Mistake

On Wednesday night, for example, the Mets were down 0-1 in the seventh inning of a well-pitched game.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, starting pitcher Steven Matz hit a single, which started a rally, and the Mets were able to take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the inning.

Despite retiring 14 straight batters in less than 80 pitches and his crucial game-altering hit, Matz was, inexplicably, pulled by Callaway in favor of closer Seth Lugo… much to the delight of the Braves who rallied off Lugo and ultimately notched a 6-4 victory.

After the game, Callaway was given an opportunity to defend himself, and told reporters Lugo was the best reliever in baseball and he’d have made that move “100 times out of 100.”

Now, granted, the statement about Lugo being the best reliever in baseball is a little biased, but the fact is Lugo is among the best in the game right now, and had just earned a reliever of the month award for July, a month in which he allowed zero runs, just three hits and retired 26-straight batters.

The problem wasn’t Lugo, though, the problem was that Lugo, who told reporters after the game that he had not begun to warm up until the Mets had taken the lead, was ice cold.

So, then, why was he put in the game?

Because Callaway panicked.

The young manager saw his starting pitcher on base and worried he wouldn’t be ready to go, despite his dominance which had the Mets in good shape deep into a winnable contest.

In this game, at this critical point in the playoff race, as the manager of a New York baseball team, you cannot panic.

The Road Ahead

A lot of things have to go right through the last few weeks of the season in order for the Mets to make a successful playoff push, and they need their manager to act like he’s been here before as much as he needs the players in the clubhouse to believe in him.

If Wednesday’s game is any indication of the future, there’s a good chance these self-inflicted wounds could catch up with the Mets heading into these final weeks of the 2019 season.