Reese Kaplan -- 1/3 of the Way Through the Season...

The Mets are often known for doing things backwards, in a panic or choosing whatever they can when all other options fail.  They were generally praised for bringing back Carlos Beltran for his managerial debut as he went from loathed to revered to tolerated during his long Mets contract.  His ailing knees made the Mets think his career might be over and they sent him packing to the Giants during his pre-free agency season in exchange for some minor league prospect named Zack Wheeler.  Though Wheeler was regarded as a bust due to injuries while coming up, he quickly became a mainstay for fans who were enraged when the Mets let him sprint away when his free agency evolved.

While I won’t dwell on the hot start Wheeler has had for the Phillies during this weird season, instead I want to talk about the devolution of Carlos Beltran as the Houston Astros cheating scandal emerged and the Mets made the surprisingly smart move of getting out from under the black cloud that would follow him if he indeed was in charge of the lineup.  It happened on January 16th of this very year and left the club with precious little time to line up a replacement before Spring Training would begin the following month.  

Now many folks were anxious for the club to dig deep into the reserve of experienced major league managers who could lead them and provide a sense of stability.  A good model example would be someone like Dusty Baker who had ample credentials and was indeed picked up by those very same Astros later that same month to take their helm as they found themselves in a similar situation.  

Now in this particular case you can praise the Mets for being somewhat more aggressive in their decision to promote internal managerial candidate Luis Rojas into the role vacated by Beltran a week before the Astros inked Baker.  The Mets knew Rojas, respected him and he worked with a great many of the players as they came up through the now depleted farm system.  While all of those attributes made the press releases, there was also some truth to the fact that the cash-strapped Wilpon family probably were also enticed by the low paycheck due to a rookie manager without any major league experience.  

So how has Rojas done thus far in his tenure with the lineup pencil of the big club in his hand?  Well, the basic tenet most folks use to evaluate managers are wins and losses.  On that metric Rojas has not been outstanding.  To be fair, he’s lost starters Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and now Michael Wacha.  That’s gotta hurt.  He’s had to fill in with the likes of David Peterson (mostly good), and Robert Gsellman (uneven and unknown).  With Jacob deGrom (solid), Rick Porcello (unpredictable) and Steven Matz (horrific) as the foundation of his rotation, you have to give the man something of a break.  

The bullpen started off as a continuing horror show but slowly has started to right itself.  People are charitable about Jeurys Familia with his 4.32 ERA and Justin Wilson with his 6.75 mark, but get out the pitchforks when it comes to Edwin Diaz who, the last time I looked, was pitching to an impressive 2.45 ERA.  Then there is the contingent who wants to lift Seth Lugo and his 2.00 ERA from the effective contingent in the pen and insert him into the rotation where he’s always struggled.  In a weird way, I’m happier they did that with Gsellman than Lugo as Gsellman is often kerosene on the fire from the pen.

On the hitting side, he’s also had some bad luck.  His leading hitter (please read that phrase again) was Robinson Cano.  He’s hit the IL with leg problems.  Steady fielder and weak hitter Jake Marisnick is gone.  Catcher Rene Rivera is gone.  Pete Alonso started off poorly as did Jeff McNeil.  J.D. Davis has been solid as has surprising rookie Andres Gimenez.  Wilson Ramos has not done much nor have the other outfielders.  Dom Smith is getting pretty steady playing time but not yet at the level he did in 2019.  

Rojas is playing flexibly with the lineup.  He rotates people around the field out of necessity due to injury and out of desperation when regulars are not getting it done.  He’s not afraid of late inning defensive replacements (though some criticize his moves as early as the 7th instead of just doing it in the 9th).  He’s not done anything blatantly stupid yet, but the results have been uneven.  

So if you have questionable pitching, poor hitting and you’re missing many pieces due to injury, a Saturday morning club record of 9-12 is nothing to write home about, but they are .500 over the last 12 games.  That’s a step in the right direction.  Nothing that happens in 2020 is going to count in the long run, but Rojas has to realize he’s managing for his tenure in the position. 

I’m hoping he does finish over .500, something neither Mickey Callaway nor Terry Collins could do when they took over the club and finished with identical .475 winning percentages.  (Terry even went downhill from there and was renewed!)  Here’s hoping a better fate awaits Mr. Rojas.