The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. It seems like we may have witnessed two important tipping points with the Mets this year. The first is with how they handle injuries and the second with how they utilize their relievers.
Jerry Crasnick wrote a very detailed piece on injuries and now we have news that Sandy Alderson is holding daily meetings on the subject and looking into all aspects of how the team handles injuries. Better late than never.
And now, Teflon Terry Collins is coming under scrutiny from every source on how he handles his bullpen. Of course, bloggers have been talking about this for years while the mainstream media turned a blind eye because, doggone it, TC is such a good guy. But we heard Ron Darling crticize him on the air last night and reporters are following up. Here are snippets from what Joel Sherman wrote today in the Post:
“Perhaps the only issue Terry Collins wanted to discuss less than injuries in his pregame media gathering Wednesday was bullpen management.
And because those were the subjects of the day — and pretty much every day around this disappointing team — the manager was touchy and miserable.”
snip
“Normally chatty and helpful with reporters, Collins provided vagaries and terse responses when asked the status of his injured fleet.”
snip
“Collins saw the wildness and a dip in velocity and summoned Neil Ramirez to face Myers. On April 29, pitching for the Giants, Ramirez had allowed a three-run homer to Myers. He was designated for assignment the next day. I asked Collins if he knew that and he said he did not, that he had not seen the matchups. In this data-driven baseball age, how could the manager and his entire staff not be aware of what occurred less than a month ago?”
Wow, I mean just wow. And once again for emphasis, wow!!
To see Collins skewered in the mainstream media is shocking. It’s 100 percent correct and at least five years overdue but wow. Hey, better late than never.
As someone who’s been beating the drum for years that the Mets’ bullpen deployment makes no sense, it’s good to see others pick up the cause. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Collins hadn’t been “terse” and instead was “chatty and helpful” if he would still be getting a free pass.
Holy cow. Ramirez gave up a home run to Myers? One home run? Why the heck is that an issue? I also think Collins sucked with his bullpen management last night, but let’s not make mountains out of single plate appearance molehills.
Once upon a time, the Yankees were a team who had Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman on the same roster. On that team, you could see why a manager would be happy having their starters casually exit after the sixth and hand things over to the pen.
The Mets don’t have that.
Sure, if things were going the way we expected: Jeurys Familia was 100% healthy, Addison Reed was still as bafflingly effective and Fernando Salas wasn’t a smoldering garbage fire the Mets wouldn’t be having these discussions. Instead the Mets have essentially dipped too often into a well they know is poison.
None of this would change the fact that Terry Collins is among the worst bullpen managers of the modern era. It only makes it that much more glaringly obvious.
The Mets need to get some bullpen help from somewhere, be it Seth Lugo, Tim Peterson or via trade. Then, they need to get a manager who understands how to use a bullpen.
It is fair to call for TC’s head.
But now to have to name the guy: Who is going to be Sandy’s pick as manager?
Dick Scott? The invisible man?
Does he reach back to Bob Green?
Suddenly Bud Black is a genius! How did that happen, I wonder?
Do you seriously think any of these middle-manager types are going to be so much more innovative and clever? I have strong doubts.
Terry was terrible last night. Part of it was that he called on 2 of the terrible 3 back there in the pen. Maybe we didn’t get the unholy trifecta because Montero gets the start on Saturday.
Because why not!
Quote: “But now to have to name the guy: Who is going to be Sandy’s pick as manager?
Dick Scott? The invisible man?
Does he reach back to Bob Green?”
Well, Sandy hired and had some success with Art Howe…
Terry Collins had a bad night last night. This time he was called out for it. The fact that he designated Blevins and Sewald unavailbable is comical because he has been running all his bullpen out under most circumstances every night. I think a few things have gone down over the last 48 hours and if Terry doesn’t reign himself in he may be looking at early retirement.
TC is obviously miffed that he no longer can talk about injuries. I can’t blame him because he has been doing it during his tenure. The agitation made him curt to the reporters so the mood was set. This is conjecture but Alderson may have spoke to TC about using Blevins and Sewald with a five run lead. TC decided that he doesn’t like Alderson meddling in his managing and will show Alderson by making the two pitchers unavailable for last night’s game. I base this on the following quote in Metsblog with Cerrone interpreting the quote –
“You’ve got to make decisions with what you have,” Collins said after the game, which reads like a direct shot at his boss, Sandy Alderson, who controls who is and isn’t on the roster.
If this is the case, TC needs to reign in his demeanor because the current state of the Mets record could be a justifiable reason to fire him. This situation could spiral out of control quickly but if history is a lesson,then TC will become his affable self to the media and back down to his boss and he will pick up his paycheck for the remainder of the season.
When Jimmy P is slamming Collins, I can just sit back and read the comments, rueful to the cause. Having said that, the Padres need to win today so we may see some changes.
Players are human, and especially the veterans have experience. They can see the screwups and they can only handle it for so long. The problem isn’t the pitching, but rather how it was squelched when it succeeded and how it was blown up when it hadn’t. No bullpen has 7 studs. How each is used is the manager’s call.
You can’t complain about short outings, but take the ball after 85 pitches and then botch the whole thing up. Had the Mets scored in the ninth, this gets covered up and everyone says “well, they won”. That’s the problem. This has been obvious for years but only the ones with a backbone address it, and there isn’t a backbone in the front office.
I would love to see Tony Pena manage this team; they’d be great! He’s smart and shrewd and a major reason for the Yankees success through even their rebuilding. Gerardi loves him and as a player he was very sharp. He may have had a drinking problem once, but that was long ago. Time to get a real leader in here. Not a nice clown.
Pena is an interesting name.
However, I don’t think Sandy likes the “leader” type.
Regarding Metsense’s always solid observations: Last year we saw for the first time a sometimes “tired” Terry Collins. He began thinking about the exit strategy. Then he pepped up again, all vim and vinegar. Now again we are seeing a beleaguered version of TC.
Once again, this team seems to need a win.
Well, good news then as now Montero is the surprise starter.
Excuse me while I sound the timbrels!
Roast a wildebeest!
Take up a melody!
Kill the fatted calf?
At this point, Anderson should swallow his ego and realize he isn’t winning crap his way, and the last time he won he had a real manager running the show, LaRussa. All these clowns he has hired were simply for entertainment purposes. They haven’t overachieved ever, and the teams are suffering because of that.
Comfortably Numb perhaps?
I think there are plenty of options, including Pedro Lopez, now at LV but who very successfully skippered the B Mets. he even got manager of the year. At the same time I would bring up Frank Viola to be the big league pitching coach.
Terry certainly doesn’t deserve all the blame. It’s not his fault that most of our starters are either injured or can’t last 6 innings. Nor is it his fault that Familia got injured and several other bullpen arms that were reliable last year have been awful.
It’s also not his fault that Montero, Ramirez, Smoker and Milone are on the roster. That being said, Collins has made terrible in-game decisions that have cost the Mets a few games. With the bases loaded you don’t bring in Ramirez or Robles. If it’s too early to go to Blevins or Reed, at least turn to someone who’s not likely to give up a grand slam – like Edgin or Sewald. Those two need to move up in the pecking order, ahead of Salas, Robles, Smoker, Montero and whatever other retreads wind up on the roster before we can make a trade and/or get Familia back.
Sure, everyone should acknowledge that this is not all TC’s fault.
However, he has to take part of the blame for reliable arms from last year being awful. His usage of both Robles and Salas is partly to blame for their miserable seasons.
The Mets have got to get away from the idea that relievers pitching four of the last five days is an acceptable thing in normal circumstances or that one day off automatically means a reliever is refreshed. Until that changes, we’re likely to see the same lousy results.
To be fair, many writers here anticipated that the Mets bullpen in 2017 would be a major strength — yourself included.
Yet you knew the players and the manager.
It’s not like the consensus was, oh, “After watching TC for 6 seasons, it’s unlikely that the bullpen will be that good.”
Darling alluded to an important point last night, though didn’t quite nail it down. Essentially, TC is taking a 2-inning model for his bullpen approach and applying it across 4 innings.
If starters were going 7, he could stick to his current pattern and it would be okay. What we’ve witnessed is a failure to adapt to the new reality.
TC really misses clarity and defined roles. The loss of Familia kills him, because he’s not good at making it up on the fly. He’s a manager who needs “an 8th inning guy,” and so on. Now it’s chaos.
And he’s understaffed, with three flamethrowers in the mix.
Yep, I agree with your post.
I don’t believe a staff-wide inability to somewhat consistently go six innings, much less seven innings, was something that anybody foresaw. It’s much like the lack of a market for Jay Bruce. It happened – however unexpected – and the reaction to it was less than ideal.
While Alderson is reviewing how the organization handles injuries, he should also examine how the organization reacts when Plan A goes down the tubes. Because the entire organization gets an “F” on adjusting on the fly.
“Because the entire organization gets an “F” on adjusting on the fly.”
Two thumbs up for that one!
The injuries and slow recoveries by the starting pitchers are not TC’s fault. TC not adjusting to the situation is his fault.