At the beginning of his reign, I was a fan of Terry Collins. He’s a scrappy old veteran coach who came into a team that was rebuilding. Collins has constantly been under a microscope during his tenure with the Mets. Whether it be how he managed young pitching prospects while they were coming up, or leaving Matt Harvey out during Game Five of the 2015 World Series, Collins has been under constant scrutiny. After a slow start to the season, the criticism has only built for Collins.
It’s not as if the criticism for Collins is unwarranted. On multiple occasions this season, he has displayed why he will never lead the Mets to a World Series victory. He has grossly overtaxed the bullpen, bringing them to the point where they are nearly ineffective. He has over worked pitchers like Hansel Robles, who are not used to longer work loads. Any successful manager knows that proper use of the bullpen is a key part of being a competitive club. So far this season, the Mets team ERA is a lowly 4.74, good for third worst in the MLB. The April 30th blowout loss didn’t help that ERA of course. While it is not Collins’s fault that the staff has underperformed, he has to be held accountable for the way he has mismanaged his bullpen pitchers.
Collins has also seemed to loose his grip on some players in the clubhouse. While no team should be run like a dictatorship, is still should be known that the manager is the man in charge. Ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard has made it look like Collins has no control over him whatsoever. When Syndergaard refused an MRI and let out a tirade on well-respected Mets PR man Jay Horwitz, not only did he make himself look like an utter fool, but he also embarrassed the whole staff of the Mets. Collins and the Mets did not punish Syndergaard, they rewarded him by letting him throw on April 30th. He would go on to suffer a lat tear, which put yet another hole in the Mets already injured rotation. How could Collins not make Syndergaard take the MRI? It just looks bad and as if Collins has no control over his players.
By the end of the month, Collins will become the longest tenured manager in Mets franchise history. He only has Bobby Valentine and Davey Johnson to pass. This is also the final year in the contract of Collins. Will he be retained further? I believe that if the Mets do not make it to the World Series, this season will be his last managing the Mets. His tenure with the team has become rather extensive, and it seems the end has been crawling closer. At the age of 67, Collins is also the oldest manager in the MLB. So, age is also not on his side for staying around much longer. Collins is nice person who has had a long life in baseball. Until as of late, he has done what has been expected of him as manager of the Mets. Unfortunately for him and the Mets franchise, he will not lead the team to a World Series victory.
I get everyone is down on Collins. Me too. But I am pretty certain that this is a step too far. While most of us are consumed by the orange and blue bubble, the amount of anguish that other fan bases bestow on their skippers is pretty much the same: Girardi, Ausmus, Metheny, Yost, Mattingly…almost all fan bases have plenty to complain about. But if we look at Yost, who was literally on the chopping block, he figured out how to go to teh WS twice and win one.
I also think it is important to assign blame to the right place. The person in charge of getting MRIs done is Alderson, not Collins. The other aspect of this thought is simple: the manager does not play baseball. The skipper is not a train conductor, where everyone behind is required to follow. Look at Maddon, the best of the best, who’s Rays teams were not universally wonderful. The players can get to and win the WS. You want TC to manage the pen less? Then have our “aces” go 7 or more nightly. In fact, our relievers are pitching something like 40% of the innings played. Newsflash, that sucks.
So sure, I get there is some mixed feelings about TC, but I believe the whole 40 man team will lead us to a WS win.
Sometimes coaches don’t fit into certain scenarios. Personally, I just don’t think they will win with Collins at the helm. Of course, I would be over-joyed if they did and would admit I was wrong the second that it happened. Let’s beat the fish tonight!
First, get to 500. Then worry about the WC, beating out the Nats, and reaching the WS. First things first!
I’ve been a Mets fan a very long time and at one time or another I’ve been critical of every manager. Davey Johnson left pitchers in too long, Bobby Valentine couldn’t configure a lineup and Terry Collins can’t manage a pen. But all three of them seem to have a knack for rallying their team and that’s what matters most. Collins can’t control that TDA and Matz are made of glass, that Grandy doesn’t hit early in the season or that Neil Walker goes through dreadful slumps. The team responds to him. Yeah, I’d rather have Joe Maddon Orr Bruce Bochy but Collins is not a bad manager and he can’t be faulted for injuries, slumps and the front office/ownership letting guys like Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner get away.
An absurd article on the face of it.
If the Mets hit at all in 2015 WS, they would have been champs. Was Collins perfect in every decision? No, he was not. Nobody is perfect. I was critical of his handling of Familia. But Terry Collins didn’t lose that WS. This happened 18 months ago. The Mets have won 2 WS in their history.
Blaming him for the Noah situation shows a lack of understanding about how baseball works. Sandy is the boss.
Here and everywhere there are a lot of hysterical comments about the “overtaxed” bullpen, with blame put squarely on the manager.
Poor Jerry Blevins and his 0.82 ERA.
Familia at 1.29.
Robles potentially turning a corner w/ 4-0 record and 1.65 ERA. People here were calling to have him sent down. In addition, he’s providing length, going two innings at times, a promising pattern.
Reed has endured a rough patch, but is pitching effectively at 3.38. Was he worked hard sometimes. Yes, he was. That’s baseball.
Edgin has been terrific, too: His ERA is 2.25.
Has Terry Collins really been so terrible for these pitchers? Maybe, perhaps, his usage patterns have been largely successful? It’s worth considering. Maybe he’s getting the best out of Jerry Blevins?
At the same time, he’s also had to deal with some unreliable arms in that pen. Guys who any manager would be reluctant to throw in a tight, important game. Smoker has been up and down. Gilmartin, awful. Montero, awful. I don’t see how you can blame TC for their shortcomings.
The one guy who got “overtaxed” was Salas. TC leaned on him, hoped to squeeze some more outs of him, and there wasn’t a drop left. But he was trying to win games, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was simply a tough situation, especially down in the FLA series. When push came to shove, TC went to his better pitchers instead of his crappy ones.
We also do not know what Salas or Reed have communicated to the coaching staff. We just don’t know what was said.
Yet all we hear is how horrible TC has been to this poor, fragile bullpen. I’m calling BS. The biggest problem has been having a couple of guys in that pen on any given night who can’t reliably get batters out.
In fact a lot of these guys are thriving. And it will get better when 1) the starters go longer; 2) the relief staff gets an upgrade; and 3) the offense continues to provide runs (which were in short supply early in the season, contributing to the cluster of factors that caused TC to ride his best arms a little harder than most of us, in an ideal world, would like).
People angry at TC for sticking with Reyes. Have you looked at the numbers lately? Did you consider his options?
All the bashing strikes me as petulant.
Let’s Go Mets!
Dalton if you look back since Collins first came here you will probably see somewhere the same observations you noted in your post. Nothing has changed. Coming out of spring training the Mets had just as many question marks as in previous seasons.His passion for Loogy’s and mismanagement of the pen are not new trends. They had there chances against the Royals. I don’t see them coming anywhere near the WS for the foreseeable future. Let’s go Mets.
Yeah I’ve had my beef with Collins’ decision making for most of his tenure, particularly his BP management and proclivity towards playing washed-up veterans. But the players lost that 2015 WS, and there’s a good chance the team doesn’t pull itself together both in 2015 and 2016 without him. I’ve made my peace with him at the helm.
Collins biggest weakness is recognizing that a dead horse won’t win the Kentucky Derby. He turns a blind eye to his veterans’ lack of production and won’t let the kids play. It was shocking to hear the moron admit that he has mistreated Flores on front of all those cameras, but it was an honest confession that must be admired. Too, losing Cespedes and Duda forced the Mets to take Granny out of the top spot where he was “such a natural”, and with Reyes subsequently forcing them to try someone else up there, the Mets ran into production from the top spot they haven’t seen in years and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever would have tried up there. [Also is the reason I believe Nimmo should be up there when he’s right because he has lived and breathed OBP since he was signed.]
The bullpen overuse hasn’t been as bad since Familia came back but even then he was anointed closer after one day and Collins just sat there while Familia fell apart in the tenth inning of his second game and let the Mets lose it. Also, relievers aren’t measured in ERA – especially pitching partial innings – but rather inherited runners scored.
Nice win streak though, go Collins.
Teams don’t win or lost pennants based upon their managers.