QUEENS, NY — The steady avalanche of bad Mets baseball finally got to SNY analyst and 1986 World Series champ, Ron Darling, on Tuesday night after starting pitcher David Peterson failed to back up home plate on a Tyler Stephenson RBI double, which allowed the Cincinnati Reds’ runner to advance to third when shortstop Bo Bichette’s throw bounced to the backstop.
“I don’t understand it,” Darling said during the 7-2 loss, which was the Mets’ fifth-straight defeat. “It really tells me that coaches really don’t have as much influence on the players as they think they have, because someone should rip someone at some point because they don’t want to upset anyone. You have to back up bases every single time.”
When asked by play-by-play man Gary Cohen if it would be addressed at all, Darling said, “It might be, but not addressed the way it should be addressed. Because if it was addressed, it wouldn’t happen. It happens every game, we just don’t point it out.”
Such an accusation only intensified the microscope’s focus on manager Carlos Mendoza, who has still been given the OK to oversee this Mets mess despite the ceaseless struggles. He said after the game on Tuesday night that he would have a conversation with Peterson about his gaffe, but the inexcusable nature of some of these breakdowns feels like an admission of surrender.
Simply put, Mendoza’s messaging does not appear to be landing with his team anymore — a notion that he pushed back on significantly on Wednesday.
“Not at all. You hate to see it,” Mendoza said. “Can’t happen, especially at this level. That’s something that physical mistakes are going to happen, but mental mistakes, especially when you’re not playing well, [are not]. As far as the messaging from my end, I know for sure in the coaching staff, in the way we hold people accountable, it doesn’t necessarily have to be in front of the camera. But as far as the messaging is received, there’s no concern there.”
He declined to go into the specifics of his conversation with Peterson, adding that, “The fact that you don’t see it in front of the camera doesn’t mean that it was [not] addressed.”
“It’s everything behind the scenes,” he added. “But until we go out there and do it and play better, for me to say something here is [pointless]. We have to go out there and do it.”
What can be seen in front of the camera is a debacle.
Entering Wednesday night’s series finale against the Reds, the Mets sank back to their season-worst 11 games under .500, having lost seven of their last nine games. Their offense is dead, having scored eight runs in their last six games.
Any fire that was lit behind an 11-5 stretch, which crescendoed with a dramatic Subway Series win over the crosstown-rival Yankees, is extinguished.
“When you’re not hitting the baseball and not creating traffic, it could look that way,” Mendoza admitted. “Every time you have action, every time you’re dictating at-bats and putting pressure on the defense, there’s going to be energy, there’s going to be that fire. But when you’re not producing much, and you’re not creating that traffic and it’s quick innings, quick at-bats, it’s going to look that way.
“But we haven’t lost anything as far as that goes. Guys are still showing up every day with the mentality of winning a baseball game, preparing, competing, and that we’ll continue to do.”
Accountability could certainly go a long way toward at least showing some intent to shake things up. Peterson’s status in the rotation moving forward is once again unknown after he allowed six runs on a career-high 11 hits, raising his season ERA to 5.57. Mendoza said no decisions have been made yet, though more clarity should come in the next day or so.
The third-year skipper has quickly earned a reputation as a players’ manager, but that approach is not helping a short-handed team stabilize. It is also setting him up to be the scapegoat for David Stearns’ spectacular failure in constructing this roster.
“You still trust the 26 players you got in that locker room,” Mendoza said. “You show up, you prepare, and you compete. A lot of veterans here have been through situations like this before, including myself, and we found ways to get out of it, and I’m confident that we will turn this thing around.”
For more on Carlos Mendoza and the Mets, visit AMNY.com
