Pressure Mounting on Mickey Callaway as Mets Need Wins

As Seen on Amazin Clubhouse on May 9, 2019. 

The New York Mets are 17-20. Having just completed a disappointing 1-5 road-trip through Milwaukee and San Diego, the Mets find themselves at a crossroads in 2019.

With the next two weeks dedicated exclusively to divisional play against the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals, it is an understatement to say the next 13 games are pivotal to the Mets season.

Because the rumors are already starting that manager Mickey Callaway is on the hot seat, and an in-season firing could be in the offing very soon.

The New York Post reported earlier this week that Callaway had the dreaded vote of confidence from COO Jeff Wilpon and General Manager Brodie VanWagenen, believing that the Mets will eventually get out of their offensive doldrums.

Earlier this year, the Mets biggest issue was its starting rotation and bullpen that for a better part of the month of April was at or near the bottom in Major League Baseball in ERA, and opposing batting average. The only reason the Mets stayed competitive was the offense.

Now, the offense is sputtering.

In the month of May, the Mets are hitting .198 as a team with only five home runs. One of those homers was from Noah Syndergaard. Two of them were from Pete Alonso. And even Alonso, who has two homers and five RBI this month, is only hitting .219 in the last two weeks.

Really outside of Jeff McNeil (.313/0 HR/ 1 RBI) and Amed Rosario (.300/ 0 HR/ 3 RBI), nobody else is contributing to this team.

Brandon Nimmo is lost in space. The smile that once stretched across his face has disappeared along with his bat. In his last eight games, Nimmo is hitting .083 (2 hits in 24 at bats).

Robinson Cano's bat has been frozen for several weeks. Cano is hitting a putrid .174 in his last 35 at bats. Were it not for a rare 4-hit game by Cano in San Diego the other day, he would be hitting .067 (2 hits in 30 at bats) since the end of April.

And don’t get started with the pitching staff, which to this day is still having issues. Jeurys Familia is on the injured list, and when he was healthy was ineffective. Same for Justin Wilson. Edwin Diaz has been getting hit hard of late. The starting rotation isn’t giving Callaway the length he needs to avoid the pen on a nightly basis.

So who is to blame for this mess?

Certainly Callaway shoulders plenty of blame. Here is a manager who couldn’t inspire his team in the month of June last year where it went 5-21 en route to a historic collapse after an 11-1 start to the season. This year the Mets were 5-1 out of the gate. They are 12-19 since.

He has had trouble navigating the bullpen. He overworks guys, and can be too impatient with his starters.

Offensively, he stays away. There is not much he can do there – he’s a pitcher by trade. He can rely on hitting coach Chili Davis as much as he wants, but he just doesn’t have the horses to hit the ball consistently to make up for his managerial gaffs with the pitching staff and bench.

We knew entering the season that Callaway was on thin ice. He was not Van Wagenen’s guy after all, so the new GM has every right to move on if he wants. Many assume that Jim Riggleman will take over if and when Callaway gets fired. But is it all on Callaway?

The answer is no.

VanWagenen should shoulder a lot of the blame himself too. It is only fair.

VanWagenen is the one who convinced the Mets to pick up the rest of Cano’s contract from the Seattle Mariners at age 37 and trade two top prospects in doing so. The fear was Cano could hit a wall and look his age – that certainly has happened.

VanWagenen is also the one who hitched his wagons to Jed Lowrie (who we still haven’t seen this year due to injury). He is the one who signed Wilson, who has an ERA of 4.82 and makes people miss the days of Jerry Blevins. VanWagenen is the one who convinced the Wilpon’s to bring back Familia; even the fan base knew they were better off without him.

Yes, Callaway has done a poor job managing this ball club. They are becoming unwatchable. That is on the manager.

But let us not forget who went shopping for the groceries. VanWagenen boasted this was a playoff team. But this is a flawed roster, with some nice young pieces that may or may not win 80 games.

In the end, if VanWagenen deserves a shot to figure what team he would like to field -- eventually; Callaway at least deserves a better fate than Willie Randolph.