Paul Articulates – A lot to manage

Buck Showalter was named National League Manager of the Year in 2022, and in my opinion he earned it.  Buck was the right guy to lead the Mets in the 2022 campaign and their 101 wins demonstrated that his approach was sound.

There were a few areas that I thought Buck did an outstanding job that really contributed to the team’s success.

1) Player rotation – Buck knew that the long season would take a toll on his players, so he started early with the practice of giving players a day off and rotating backups through their position.  The only real exception was Francisco Lindor, who specifically requested to be on the field every day – and he proved durable enough to do this.  Pete Alonso played a lot as well, but rotated through the DH position to get defensive innings off.  Buck’s approach had several positive outcomes:

a. The players rested enough to heal all those little bruises and strains that come from playing hard on every play.

b. The backups got playing time to remain proficient for times they would need to fill for an ill or injured player.

c. The team received contributions from many more players which established a mentality that everyone on the roster was adding to the team’s success.

d. The coaching staff had ample time to evaluate the bench players in many different on-field situations which is very important to inform those key late-inning decisions on substitutions.

2) Pitching staff – Buck managed the pitching staff very well.  He did not push the starters deep into games for most of the year, and used all the arms in the bullpen to get through games.  Like the player rotation strategy, Buck’s management of the staff helped to avoid injury to the greatest extent possible.  A fairly old pitching staff got deep into the season before showing some cracks with the exception of Jacob deGrom who struggled with health right from the beginning.   Not sure anyone could have avoided that train wreck.  

With Buck’s approach, three pitchers gave the team over 150 innings, and Max Scherzer came close with 145.  Those four starters delivered 53 wins which was just over half of the club’s total.  Five relievers saw action in more than 40 games which demonstrated solid durability for this era.  Of those five, Adam Ottavino was tops with 66 appearances followed closely with totals in the 60’s by Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz.  

3)  Clubhouse environment – Buck created a very calm environment for his team with every action.  His media interviews, his presence on the bench, and his interactions with the rest of the coaching staff set a very thoughtful and deliberate tone.  He was never too high or too low emotionally, which set a stable example for his players.  Baseball is a game that can get away from you when emotions get involved so this was the right way to keep players focused on the long steady march to the postseason.  

How do I know that Buck’s example permeated the players’ thinking?  Here is one example.  Pete Alonso broke fewer bats (zero?) over his knee last year than in any prior season.  Remember when he would get so frustrated during a slump and the wood took the brunt of it?  No longer.  Pete batted a career high .271 last year and although there were many factors in his success I think a more even tempered approach at the plate was important.

Buck Showalter didn’t get everything perfect.  There were games where he made the wrong call on a substitution or a pitching change.  The memes created by his reactions to Mets players being hit by pitch became a sideshow.  But the job of being a major league manager is an extremely difficult one, and no one gets it all right.  Buck did it best and he has the hardware to prove it.

Now we move into the 2023 season and there is one more very big thing to manage on top of all those just discussed.  It is bigger than all of them, and will take more than one brilliant field general to manage it: the expectations of New York fans.   With the Met’s payroll at a league record $330M plus, and with the star power that has been delivered to the stage called Citi Field, the fans are setting the bar as high as it can get – World Championship or bust!  It is understandable, but still unrealistic to think that a bigger payroll or a collection of big stars will get you a title.  

There are a full six months of regular season play plus a playoff run required to win it all, and the champ will have to maneuver through injuries, slumps, and plain old bad luck.  I think the Mets have done a great job of building a team and a leadership group that gives them a strong chance at succeeding, but they are only one of several teams that are well positioned.  

The Dodgers, Padres, Braves, Astros, and Yankees have all done their share of player development and free agent spending to produce teams that are perennial threats.  Other teams are close behind and could make a magical run like last year’s Phillies.  

What the fans should expect is a solid, well-coached team to take the field every day and play as hard as they can to get a win.  They should expect players to be fully prepared for what they are going to face, and to take care of their bodies and their minds so they are in the best position to succeed.  After that, it’s just baseball – where a line drive can be an out and a dribbler can be a game-winner.  

That cylindrical bat hitting a round ball travelling in excess of 90mph creates some very unexpected results sometimes, so the fans should be prepared for some unpleasant results as well as their share of good times.  I’m hoping for the best, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.  Let’s go Mets!