Mets’ recent success doesn’t hide managerial issues

After a surprising series win over the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets’ fans are riding high. But do back-to-back wins hide lingering managerial issues? 

As the Mets’ 2023 season appeared to be veering off the tracks, they ran into the Tampa Bay Rays — the best team in baseball — at exactly the wrong time. Or so we thought.

After a dramatic, come-from-behind victory on Wednesday, the Mets followed up with another win — by the score of 3-2 — on Thursday.

So all is good in the Mets’ world, right? Not exactly. GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter continue to be major roadblocks in the way of the Mets’ ultimate success.

Mets manager Buck Showalter simply refuses to let the kids play

‘Let the Kids Play’ has been a major slogan for Mets fans this season, particularly in reference to Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio. The latter here, Mauricio, hasn’t even gotten his call-up from the minors yet.

That’s because somebody — whether it’s Showalter, Eppler or both — doesn’t want to irk the veterans (Eduardo Escobar, Daniel Vogelbach and Tommy Pham) on this team. Showalter has been known to be beholden to veterans in the past, even batting Robinson Cano ahead of Jeff McNeil as recently as last season.

Showalter appears to be trapped in old-school thinking, the mindset where young players have to ‘earn their way.’ Unfortunately for the Mets and their faithful, this just simply isn’t ‘the way’ of MLB anymore.

Just look around. The Baltimore Orioles — another team that Showalter has failed with in the past — have the second-best record in the American League at 28-16. Adley Rutschman, a catcher and one of the biggest prospects in all of baseball, is leading their team in plate appearances with 194.

No rest for the weary, these days.

As we mentioned earlier, the Rays have been the best all-around team in baseball. Wander Franco is leading their team in plate appearances with 189. He’s just 22 years old.

As other teams excel by supporting and promoting their youth, the Mets are being held back by Showalter’s stubborn disposition. He was even a wise guy to reporters at yesterday’s press conference, much to their collective surprise and dismay.

Mets general manager Billy Eppler won’t let go of Daniel Vogelbach 

After one of the most unsuccessful trade deadlines in MLB history — one that brought the Mets Vogelbach, Darin Ruf, Tyler Naquin and pain — Eppler is desperately trying to hold on to the last remaining piece of disaster: Vogelbach.

Instead of just fully committing to Alvarez, Mauricio, Vientos and Baty (with a steady diet of at-bats), low-impact veterans like Vogelbach, Escobar and Pham continue getting significant time.

Vogelbach is slugging just .352, second-worst on the team ahead of only Starling Marte, who is clearly playing hurt and struggling through the worst stretch of his lengthy MLB career.

Vogelbach is also a .219 lifetime hitter who hit .000 in last year’s playoff series loss to the San Diego Padres. He has no defensive value and no base running value. He’s a complete and utter waste of an MLB roster spot.

In the end, Eppler and Showalter simply keep getting in the way of the Mets’ potential success.