Laura Albanese: Mets' Carlos Mendoza denies that apathy is setting in, but it sure looks like it
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza jogs back to the dugout after making a pitching change during the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Brad Penner
Meet the Meh-ts.
The best thing that can be said about the conclusion of these 16 straight games is that after the Mets’ 4-2 win over the Reds at Citi Field Wednesday, they’ll finally have a guaranteed respite from the misery.
That might seem harsh after a win — one that included yet another Juan Soto homer, a two-RBI night from Carson Benge, and a magic act from Devin Williams, who walked the bases loaded with one out in the ninth before scurrying out of trouble. But there were times it seemed like it took everything they had to squeeze this one out, and were hugely aided by the Reds stranding a whopping 17 men on base.
But it’s hard to feel too good about them snapping their five-game losing streak. Actually, it seems hard for fans to feel much of anything these days.
See, a funny thing happened over the course of these three long weeks — the anger fans felt after their April swoon ceded, if very momentarily, to hope — the result of two stirring wins against the Yankees earlier this month that seemed to create a spark in a team that was finally showing fight. And then that hope was quashed in highly definitive fashion — best highlighted by their sweep at the hands of the very mediocre Marlins this past weekend. The anger, though, doesn’t seem to be returning with the same vitriol.
In its stead, you’re seeing something arguably worse: apathy.
Social media is populated with fans who have all but given up on the season. There were cheers when Soto homered in his first at-bat Wednesday, but even that celebration comes with a little asterisk — that was Soto’s sixth home run over his last seven games; the Mets have lost five of those seven. In the end, it almost serves as a reminder that Soto is in his prime, and that this franchise is in danger of wasting it.
You can’t fault fans at all — not when this team has given them little reason to care. But you can also see a world where that apathy makes its way to the clubhouse. For a while there, it seemed like the influx of youth kept it at bay (Benge’s enthusiasm was notable Wednesday). But its worth wondering how long that can last.
For what it’s worth, Carlos Mendoza insists that hasn’t happened.
“When you’re not hitting the baseball, when you’re not creating traffic, it can look” like you’ve lost your fight, he said before the game. “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. When you’re not producing much and you’re not creating that traffic, [putting together] quick innings, quick at-bats, it’s going to look like [you don’t have it]. 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’s what we’ll continue to do here . . . .”
But there’s a reason Mendoza is being asked about this, and one that goes beyond their record (23-33). Look, for instance, at their Tuesday loss to the Reds — a game where David Peterson failed to back up a play at home, allowing a runner to advance to third. It was an egregious mental lapse, and Ron Darling, speaking on the SNY broadcast, had had enough.
“I don’t understand it,” Darling said. “It really tells me that coaches don’t have as much influence on the players as they think they have, because someone should rip someone at some point, but they don’t, because they don’t want to upset anyone. You have to back up bases every single time.”
He added: “If it was addressed . . . it wouldn’t happen. It happens every game. We just don’t point it out.”
Those are some pointed words from someone who’s forgotten more about baseball than most people know, and they shouldn’t be ignored. While there’s no doubt that these men are professionals, they’re also humans and humans get discouraged — something underlined by this now-apathetic fanbase.
Things like that do lead to mental lapses, and it does sometimes cause the lines of communication to be frayed. There’s every danger that the coaching staff could lose this room, and that is likely only exacerbated by the fact that many of these faces are new. These are nascent relationships, and thus fragile ones.
Mendoza doesn’t think that’s happened yet (though even if it has, he’s really not in a position to say so).
“As far as the messaging, from my end, I know for sure [I hold people accountable] and the coaching staff and the way we hold people accountable,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be in front of the camera. But as far as the messaging received, there’s no concern there.”
He later added: "You trust the 26 players that you have in that locker room, you show up, you prepare, you work and you go out and compete . . . We found ways to get out of it and I’m confident that we will turn this thing around here.”
If they do, it’s going to be a long, arduous road, with no room for apathy. The first step is a win like Wednesday’s, and then maybe another when they take on the Marlins Friday, a team that swept them just last weekend.
Their hope should be they get people to cheer again.
But first, they’ll need to get them to care.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
