We’ve already gone into detail on multiple occasions about how the New York Mets have a managerial problem.
Mickey Callaway has proven time and time again that he isn’t ready to lead a big-market team in a playoff race as the Mets’ success seems to be in spite of him.
We saw it once again on Tuesday night when, in a three-run game, he put in the unproven Chris Mazza and his five-plus ERA against the Chicago Cubs — a team the Mets are trailing in the Wild Card standings.
Yes, the manager punted a late-August game against a team holding the playoff spot his team is trying to snag.
Amongst the litany of his puzzling decisions made over the past few weeks, is the decision to keep playing veteran third baseman Todd Frazier — who has become a liability over the past two months.
The 33-year-old was never going to be a high-average guy for the Mets. A .245 career average over his first seven years made that clear.
But Frazier always promised some power and reliability in the second half of the Mets’ lineup. Having never had a stint on the IL, Frazier averaged 25 home runs per season including 35 and 40-homer campaigns in 2015 and 2016.
Naturally, Frazier was limited to 115 games with a hamstring strain and a muscle strain in his rib cage during his first year with the Mets in 2018.
While he battled an oblique injury during spring training this year, Frazier has remained relatively healthy in 2019.
His bat, however, has been anything but.
In 107 games this season, Frazier is slashing .226/.300/.402 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI.
It’s been a miserable stretch since Jun. 25, as Frazier is batting just .186 with seven home runs and 51 strikeouts in 52 games.
His fielding, which is usually a stronger aspect of his game, has suffered as he’s committed five errors since Jul. 21. His season fielding percentage of .959 at third base is tied for a career-worst, which he set last year with the Mets.
Most baseball managers, analysts, and fans realize that when a team is in the midst of a playoff race, it’s imperative to roll out the best possible lineup every single night.
Starting at Frazier every night doesn’t do that and it showed on Tuesday night.
Instead of starting JD Davis at his natural position at third base, Callaway’s decision to start Frazier against the Cubs forced JD Davis into the outfield while Michael Conforto shifted out of position to center field.
In the fifth inning, shortly after Pete Alonso’s record-breaking home run put the Mets ahead 1-0, Conforto was beaten over the head on a lead-off double by Victor Caritini before Addison Russell’s wall-scraper go-ahead home run that could have been robbed with a proper center fielder in the fold.
That proper center fielder, Juan Lagares, was on the bench because Callaway wanted his best-possible infield defense on the field.
Instead, he ignored the Mets’ recent offensive woes (averaging 2.2 runs in their last five games) by benching Lagares, who is batting .313 over his last 24 games and is one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball.
Go figure.
