Will the New York Mets fire Mickey Callaway after their disappointing series versus the Marlins? The club has lost four straight and is now five games under .500.
The New York Mets reached a new low on Sunday. After a tough shutout loss to the lowly Miami Marlins on Saturday night, the Mets slogged through a lifeless game on Sunday where we saw the Marlins’ starter, Sandy Alcantara, pitch a complete game shut out while only throwing 89 pitches.
In an era of “pace of play” concerns, the Mets and Marlins were able to finish their game on Sunday in only 1 hour and 59 minutes. Major League Baseball won’t have to worry about the pace of place if other clubs follow the Mets example…
Sunday marks the team’s fourth consecutive loss and ends an embarrassing weekend where the club was swept at the hands of the Marlins. As I write this, Manager Mickey Callaway still has a job with the New York Mets.
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How long will he last in Queens?
Today, I listened to most of the game through the Mets’ radio broadcast and they seemed to mention Callaway’s job status with every other pitch. After the game, the New York Post posted an article with the title, “Pitiful Mets lay down, make it easier to justify Mickey Callaway firing”.
Some may say that this type of reaction is an overreaction as the Mets are still within striking distance of the NL East-leading Philadephia Phillies (6.5 GB) considering that there is plenty of baseball left to play in the season. But in the end, every passing loss becomes more costly, especially if the team continues to mail in games…
We can’t blame all of the Mets’ struggles on Callaway, as the team seems to hit well when they don’t pitch well and vice versa, but he may be the scapegoat for a team that had high expectations coming into the season.
Firing Mickey Callaway could light a fire underneath the disappointing Mets, but would it send the right message?
We could assume that Jim Riggleman will take over in the event that Brodie Van Wagenen decides to part ways with Callaway, but would that be a good look? To me, I would assume that this was Van Wagenen’s plan all along as Riggleman was one of BVW’s first hirings. Same goes with the hiring of rumored possibility, Luis Rojas, who was named the club’s quality assurance coach during the offseason. If this move was in the back of BVW’s head, why didn’t he do it before the start to the season?
Noah Syndergaard discussed his manager’s future following Sunday’s loss, via Metsblog.com.
"“I respect the hell out of Mickey,” said Syndegaard, “Mickey has tremendous leadership values. It’s kind of bullshit what’s going on right now with this speculation that there could be a change, because we’re so early in the season and just one very small step away from putting this all together. It’s certainly not on him.”"
On one hand, I do agree with Syndergaard as there is still a lot of baseball left to play, but something needs to change.
To start, Callaway needs to bench Robinson Cano, as the veteran failed to run out ground balls on two consecutive days. We all respect what Cano has done throughout his career, but this lollygagging sets a bad example for the Mets’ younger players. Could this be connected to their current pitiful play? Maybe, maybe not, but it could be a contributing factor.
Even in the darkest days during Terry Collins‘ administration, the New York Mets always seemed to have fight. This Mets team has not shown this and Callaway needs to do whatever possible to help kill this current “lay down” attitude.
I would not be surprised if the New York Mets fire Mickey Callaway on Sunday night, but if they don’t, I think that Callaway’s job will be safe for the foreseeable future. He deserves a chance to right his sinking ship, but the opportunity to improve is growing thin. Hopefully, these rumors will help the Mets turn the page on this disappointing stretch of games.