Mickey Callaway came to Flushing, Queens to manage the Mets with a lot of fanfare. A successful pitching coach, many thought Callaway would be the man to finally lift the spell that had been cast upon the pitching staff of the New York Mets. Injury after injury befell the staff that held so much promise at the beginning of their careers. Callaway came to New York with the understanding that when this roster was completely healthy, they had the potential to compete. As we all know however, things can never exactly be that easy for the Mets.

After an 11-1 start, Callaway was seen as a genius, and it appeared like he was pushing all of the right buttons. The wheels began to fall off slowly for this team, and then all of a sudden, it seemed like most of our starters were on the disabled list. This of course is no fault of Calloway’s. The team now finds itself in an offensive drought for the ages, as they have fallen off the face of the Earth. Sure, he is responsible for making in game decisions, but how much of this epic fall from grace that this team has experienced can we blame on the new guy in town?

The injury bug has yet again bitten the Mets, beyond the point of mercy. It must be something in the water with the way the Mets accumulate injuries. Either way, we can’t blame the manager for a finger injury here, or a plantar fasciitis there. A total of 12 different Mets have made the injury report this season, which is astronomically high for this point in the season.

Callaway also can’t be blamed for the underperformance of key players. Jay Bruce, for example, has completely failed all expectations. His three home runs and meek 15 RBIs is not what the Mets had in mind when they signed him for three years during the offseason. In addition to the underperformance of guys like Bruce, holes in Calloway’s roster were bandaged by adding veterans like Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Bautista that simply aren’t the players that they used to be. Mix those two ingredients, and you have a team that hardly ever scores more than a run during a game.

For all of these reasons, I don’t believe it is fair to cast a real judgement on how good of a manager Callaway is. They say that you can tell the true muster of a manager by the way he manages his team during bad times. It is really hard to tell when the bad times are going to stop for this team. Besides the starting rotation, which has a collective ERA below 3.00, there are no signs that show that this team is going to improve. With Callaway criticizing the New York media for being too rough on his players, there is more reason to believe that even more scrutiny will be placed upon him. This scrutiny however, is misguided, and he should not be to blame for the recent struggles of this team.

12 comments on “Don’t put all the blame on Mickey

  • TexasGusCC

    Callaway has made his mistakes, but there are signs of strong leadership.
    – He refuses to blame injuries for the team’s performance.
    – He acknowledges their lack of fundamentals and has stated that they will work on them on the road, rather than take BP. Something that hasn’t been done since Davey.
    – Callaway has shown willingness, to some extent, to have flexibility in not tolerating walks from his pitchers.

    Now, there are many more things I can say that I’m not happy about, but most have to do with the roster he is given, and what’s a guy to do? He’s been much better at handling the starters innings and the bullpen usage. But, is still below passing to me.

  • metvibes

    I believe Sandy Alderson inaction or Wipons cheapness took the momentum out of the team when both catchers went down.

  • Michael

    I don’t blame Mickey either for all the injuries but this lack of offense is more than puzzling. The only starter we are missing is Cespedes and while he is important, he is not the reason we are able to muster 3 runs in the last 52 innings or 8 runs in the last 7 games.
    Terry had a lot more severe injuries to deal with than Mickey has and I didn’t blame him either.

  • Pete

    Matt Harvey is on Callaway. He talked management into re-signing him with the expectation that he and pitching coach Eiland could “fix” whatever ailed him. Callaway just needs to manage better. This is the NL with no DH. Injuries are not on him. But his bullpen strategy sometimes leaves one perplexed. Lets give him more time and see where this team is All Star break.

  • Steve S.

    I think Frazier, Flores, and Cespedes will hit, with some power. That will help. Rosario has a way to go. Bruuuuce? One day, he’ll hit again. Maybe. I hope. Conforto will come out of it, but when?

    Gonzo and Reyes need to go now.

    I wonder if TJ Rivera will hit when he returns. Next month?

    The bullpen is another concern. But Swarzak, Lugo, and Gsellman are good. But that’s not enough. Not much in the minors to help!

    • David Klein

      Mets actually have lots of high upside relief help and in the minors Drew Smith, Bashlor, Callahan(when healthy), Ryder Ryan, Baustista and Hanhold.

      • Steve S.

        I was hoping the Wilponzis would spend much more on the bullpen this winter. But I’d give Drew Smith a shot. I doubt the others you named are ready right now.

  • TJ

    The Mick has been far from top shelf, but regardless of the sport, the players play the game, for better or worse. And, while there have been injuries, like all teams, the guys playing have just played very poorly, with few exceptions.

    Barring divine intervention, 2018 is all but done. Fine, even off 2017, I can live with that. It is 2019, 2020, and 2021 that have me very concerned at this point.

  • David Klein

    Rosario with his 270ish obp leading off while Conforto with a 344 obp is hitting sixth, oy. Oh and why not start Bautista in the OF and have Bruce at first and sit AGon?

  • Madman

    It’s on Sandy… what if Cobb or Lynn instead of Vargas,Holland instead of Swarzak, Gomez instead of Bruce, Morrison instead of Gonzales , and Kinsler instead of Frazier? The guy never chooses the right players.

    • David Klein

      Joking?

    • Joshua Cookingham

      Eh, Cobb and Lynn aren’t doing much better than Vargas at this point. Holland is a mess, Gomez is done. Morrison is the only one I could see as being better than what we have. Kinsler and Frazier are a wash at this point.

      Honestly, its the injuries. Too many got hurt at the worst time, and the timing’s off now.

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