Mickey Callaway referred to the rotation as the Mets strength yet again before Tuesday night’s series opener against the Giants, and he indicated how important it was for the starters to get on a roll of excellence to carry the team.
A few hours later, Noah Syndergaard was on an excellent roll and the Mets manager was removing him from the game, the latest evidence that even nearly 1 ¹/₂ years into the job, Callaway still has trouble making decisions under stress. You know who agrees with that assessment?
Mickey Callaway.
Because after what turned into a 9-3, 10-inning loss, Callaway first gathered his players to express in Syndergaard’s word “remorse” about the decision while taking responsibility for the loss and then publicly conceding, “I’d like to have that [decision] back.”
That might be true about the Wilpons and Brodie Van Wagenen when it comes to their choice to stick with Callaway as manager. Three days after removing Jacob deGrom over the ace’s objections and going to a sketchy bullpen that would end up blowing the game, Callaway did the same Tuesday with Syndergaard with the same results. This is the Robinson-Cano-not-running-out-balls-twice of managing. Once, you are not crazy about it, but the second time reaches inexcusable.
Honestly, while I was surprised when Callaway came out to pull Syndergaard last night, I thought that with Lugo having pitched so well of late, we’d be ok. Well, not only was I wrong, but with Gary Cohen reminding us that the Giants one strong point was their bullpen, I just knew that the Mets were likely going to lose. What’s also disturbing tho is Callaway’s lack of being aware in the moment and that’s the biggest reason to ax him.