Buck Showalter cites the wisdom of his first major league general manager, Gene Michael, the way a philosophy major might Socrates.
And in the pregame Wednesday, he noted that the one-time Yankees general manager insisted you had to “avoid staleness” in roster building. That even a successful team has to make changes and not just believe the largesse of one season would automatically blend into the next.
The Mets, Showalter noted, had not done that with the positional group from last season and he thought it was part of a whole group searching for an identity. The Mets manager said, “We were the little engine that could last year even with a high payroll because the manager was new, the coaching staff was new, the owner was basically new and there were a lot of new players. We’re having trouble getting that back.”
But between when he mentioned this symptom — let’s mark it as the low point of a so far disturbing Mets season — and when he revisited it — after the most stirring, important victory of 2023 — it was possible to see where the change could occur. And, really, where it has to come from. Because among the many 2023 Mets’ shortcomings has been the absence of long balls. Essentially, if Pete Alonso did not hit them, then the Mets didn’t go deep.
The hope, though, for the Mets is that the difference-making change was not from outside in the offseason, but from the inside with the schedule underway. So it was symbolic that the Mets rallied three times Wednesday night with two potential power sources, making it possible for Alonso to author a walk-off flex.
Mark Vientos, in his 2023 debut, hit a two-run homer to tie the score in the seventh. Francisco Alvarez tied it again with a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth. That forced extra innings. It eventually got the final at-bat to Alonso, who was ill, but game. He crushed a three-run homer and the Mets won 8-7 over the MLB-best Rays.
“You can do it [change an in-season tenor] with young players,” Showalter said after the Mets won for just the seventh time in 23 games.
For the Mets, this was a victory more gritty than pretty. Kodai Senga authored his best Mets start, allowing the majors’ best offense one run in six innings while striking out 12. But the length of the Mets bullpen was again exposed as Jeff Brigham and Steve Nogosek allowed runs, as did the more dependable Adam Ottavino and most impregnable David Robertson.
The Mets also continue to not be the kind of sharp team associated normally with Showalter. That has largely been revealed with shabby baserunning all season. On Wednesday, the Mets allowed a franchise-record-tying seven steals.
But even with a sparser crowd offering boos throughout the Mets did not relent. They came in minus-14 in homer differential — a flaw that was killing them all year. Vientos was promoted because baseball operations felt it could wait no longer in an attempt to get some more might into the lineup.
And though they lost the stolen base battle 7-0 and again the walk battle, this time 6-3, they matched the Rays’ three homers with three dramatic blasts — and won a game that felt like a barbell coming off their chest. Suddenly with Alvarez, Vientos and another in-season call-up now playing regularly, Brett Baty, did the Mets reveal an energy and power source that could help reverse six weeks of uninspiring play?
“They have that background to be able to do that [hit with power],” Showalter said. “We’ll see if they can do it at this level.”
In the pregame, Showalter had displayed to his team that its 20-23 record was the same as the Phillies and Braves had after 43 games last year — and Atlanta won its fifth straight division title and the Phillies won the NL pennant. Francisco Lindor insisted there was no sense of panic, that belief was still strong about the talent and that the bond of unity was stronger because there had been no finger-pointing in tough times.
But the Mets needed results. Not comparisons to other teams or words of encouragement. They needed signs that they could take a punch and begin to respond. That they could get the ball over the fence.
A couple of their youngsters injected with a distressing season already underway generated meaningful body blows. Alonso delivered the knockout. The Mets had a win that felt in the moment bigger than May 17.
Was it just that, a moment? Or the beginning of a turnaround?