PITTSBURGH – After the Mets dropped to 11 games under .500 following a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers last May 29, shortstop Francisco Lindor requested a players-only meeting in the clubhouse. The message was simple; with the season still young, the infielder wanted to ensure the group stayed upbeat despite the struggles.
The conversation proved to be perfectly timed as the Mets flipped the script in the coming months, turning the lackluster start into an 89-win season and eventual Wild Card berth and NLCS appearance.
The Mets are hopeful their latest players-only meeting, following their 12th loss in 15 games via Saturday afternoon’s 9-2 defeat to the Pirates at PNC Park, will have a similar effect on the group.
Lindor, Pete Alonso and several others spoke at length in the visiting clubhouse about how the team needs to continue to support one another to help thwart the recent adversity.
“After the game, we all sat here and it just happened,” Lindor said. “We collectively, as a group, decided to start talking to each other. And that’s what good teams do. We all rely on each other, we all bounce ideas from each other. It was just a team thing.”
The tone was very similar to the one several veterans called early last season.
“We just decided we wanted to talk,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “One person says it and you all get behind it. That's the way this team works. It's made up of very, very good people. So if somebody wants to talk about things, then we’re all behind each other to do that.”
There’s no hiding the Mets’ recent struggles, and the team losing the first two games of the series against the Pirates is just the latest example. The group has seen multiple starting pitchers (Griffin Canning, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill) hit the injured list in the span of a month, its bats quiet and first place in the NL East slip away, sending any momentum the team had built early in the season to a screeching halt.
“We’re not playing well,” Nimmo said. “We’ve won a couple games, but we haven't been able to put it together. So, you know, just put things there, talk about it as a team and move on.”
Emotions boiled over in Saturday’s defeat, as Mets manager Carlos Mendoza stormed out of the visiting dugout and got into the face of home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz after getting ejected in the fourth inning. Mendoza was tossed moments earlier for just the third time in his career after voicing his frustrations following a disagreement on the call of multiple balls and strikes.
“We’ve got to keep fighting,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to continue to fight through it, and we will. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Obviously we’re not getting the results, but also understanding that every team will face adversity and here we are. It’s up to us to continue to work, continue to fight. … It sucks going through it, but we’ll find a way.”
Lindor admitted that while it's only human nature to try to shoulder additional responsibility when things aren't going well, if everybody continues to trust those around them to do their job, the group might be able to find its footing.
“We’re all pulling for each other, I believe so,” Lindor said. “Just enjoying the moment, you know? Just supporting each other, just making sure we're counting on each other, passing the baton. Just not trying to do too much. The guy next to you can do it as well.”
Nimmo agreed, saying that morale in the locker room has not faltered and nobody is pointing any fingers at one another.
“As a team, we’re not playing very well right now,” Nimmo said. “There’s mistakes all over the field you can point at. It’s not one thing. It’s not [only] pitching, it’s not hitting, it’s not defense. It’s all of them at different times. We’re not putting it together right now. You’re not going to win games in the big leagues when you do that.
“This is not the first season that I’ve gone through a time like this. In fact, I think I’ve been here long enough to have seen a June like this, maybe a little worse. It definitely felt good, productive. I think we’ll look to build on that one step at a time.
“We’ll see if [the meeting] works or not.”