Robert Ippolito - Mismanagement 101

Normally there is not too much cause for concern when a team wins their last 4 out of 6 games. And then there's the Mets. A team that was praised in the off season for a pitching staff with so much potential. Well, about a month in and we currently sit 27th in the league with a 4.80 era. Not quite what we, or the experts, were expecting. The Mets are also tied with the Brewers for dead last in opponents batting average at .269. For a team that was supposed to be built around pitching, this is far from the results that are needed to succeed.

While poor player performance generally lies at the fault of the player, nobody expected to see Rafael Montero or Adam Wilk as our starting rotation options at the beginning of May. Lets dig down and speculate as to why they are. 

1. Poor Handling of Injuries: This has been an issue for years and shows no signs of improving. Steven Matz was obviously not handled correctly and we all saw what happened to Thor. Refusing an MRI and management tries to play it off with jokes. How about you lay down the law and put him on the DL. Oh that's right, you did, about 1.2 innings and a terrible start too late. They claim the injuries are unrelated, if you believe that, I've got some beachfront property in Idaho to sell you. We all saw what happened with Yoenis and his hamstring, so I'm not even going to waste my time.

2. No Options: Aside from the fact that you can not predict injuries, which I will give a pass, this team really lacked any respectable options if injuries in the rotation occurred. This has happened in other areas [see David Wright]. While Adam Wilk should get a pass since he was apparently run around all over the continent before having to start, lets not forget it's Wilk. He owns a career 6.49 era. But don't worry, we just signed Tommy Milone from the Brewer's scrap heap. While Milone does own a career 4.21, his 2017 era is an alarming 6.43 in 21 innings with 6 HR's given up. I'd like to believe we could have found a spot for Tyler Pill on the 40 man roster.

3. No Leadership in Management: As someone who manages a staff of roughly 50 for a living, I know what it is like to deal with multiple personalities and egos. I'm not so sure Terry Collins is up to the task anymore. Speculation aside on the whole Matt Harvey fiasco...he has to know that he is expected to act accordingly. But when you have someone cracking jokes and ducking lineup/injury questions...maybe your players start to feel a little extra wiggle room. If Terry loses the locker room, then Sandy has to make the call and get rid of him. Bullpen mismanagement aside, Collins has done a fair job with this team the past couple of years. However, for a team that was oh so close, there is marginal room for error. Man up and show them who the boss is. Yell if you need to, throw some chairs if it helps, but get a hold of a team that is relatively young with only a handful of veteran leaders. It's a long season...and will be even longer if this circus continues in a town near you.