Reese Kaplan -- Appreciate Who Is In Charge When It Matters

One of the comments made in my last article stated that Buck Showalter was a good manager but a reader took exception to that praise and evaluated the current NL Manager of the Year as substandard.  

Don't get me wrong.  I have no issue with someone having an opinion that differs from my own.  My days of blowing up at a moment's notice with no patience for other points of view I think left me when I left the workforce.  I'm a much more relaxed person now that I used to be.  Still, it got me to thinking what kind of a job has Showalter done and who in Mets history has done better?

The biggest issue the Mets are facing in the Showalter era is the health of its players and some of the questionable transactions made by the front office.  You cannot hold Showalter accountable for a batter going 0-5 or a pitcher throwing batting practice quality tosses or a fielder not giving 100% effort on batted balls by the opposition.  It is not Showalter's fault that Omar Narvaez, Justin Verlander, Edwin Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Tommy Hunter, Carlos Carrasco, Jose Quintana, Tim Locastro and others have had to miss time due to injuries and/or illnesses.

Now you could make a case that in the realm of baseball hierarchy that a superstar player outranks managers and sometimes even front office personnel, but you can insist that the manager instill upon his players the need to adhere to the rules of the game.  On that note if you want to give Showalter blame for Max Scherzer getting penalized for how he handled the questionable sticky substance issue and railing against the umpires after being tossed out to let everyone know how him being perceived as being right was more important than winning the game.  

During his tenure heading up the Mets he has the track record of wins and losses to suggest that compared to his predecessors he certainly does do some things that you would judge as right.  In his rookie managerial season he won 101 games, got a batting title out of Jeff McNeil, dual 100 RBI seasons out of Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, got otherworldly pitching from Edwin Diaz and weathered nearly as many hurler hardshps last year as he's already faced this year.  No, the Mets didn't make it any further into the playoffs than quick elimination, but his record is head and shoulders over what Luis Rojas, Mickey Callaway and Terry Collins did during their stints in charge.

This year people are hopping mad that the club is merely a few games over .500 despite the litany of unavailable talent.  No one envisioned Francisco Alvarez being forced into duty this early any more than they expected an April platoon-type situation with rookie Brett Baty and veteran Eduardo Escobar.  Tommy Pham has had a few good games and Daniel Vogelbach is performing like, well, Daniel Vogelbach.  Given the facts that Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and others have not performed at their optimum level could partially be blamed on Showalter and his coaches.  Then again both Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo are doing quite well.  I guess if you blame Showalter for the others then you need to credit him for the ones doing well, too.  

The 2022 season was frustrating as the Mets collapsed in the month of September yet still made the playoffs.  With Marte's injury wreaking more damage than anyone would have thought, even Escobar's scorching September couldn't make up for it.  This season it's been more of tap dancing around regulars pitching and hitting while awaiting returns from the IL.  

Going forward you'd have to wonder what person would be equipped to take over the reins from Buck Showalter when either he or his employer feel it's time for a change at the top.  Some feel Eric Chavez was brought in not only to coach but to learn at the feet of one of the game's masters when it becomes his chance to assume managerial duties.  The fans will then jump all over him for every decision as the result of having had no experience as a manager.  The same holds true for Carlos Beltran.  

For now if you took a poll of Mets fans they would overwhelmingly favor Buck Showalter over other baseball managers and feel that his presence is what pushed the Mets from also ran into postseason contender.  Is he perfect?  No, of course not.  No one is.  However, he's on a Cooperstown path for what he did as a manager and that rarely happens in this game.  I certainly appreciate having the man around.