ORLANDO, Fla. — Carlos Mendoza pushed again Monday towards the notion a fractured Mets clubhouse was a part of the workforce’s undoing final season.
“We had an expert clubhouse,” the Mets supervisor stated on the Winter Conferences. “Guys revered one another. Guys loved being round one another. We simply didn’t play nicely within the subject, and that translated into no matter individuals name vibe, workforce chemistry.”
The Put up lately reported that Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil had a heated confrontation in June over a play that wasn’t made.
A supply additionally described the connection between Lindor and Juan Soto as chilly.
“I’m not going to get into what occurs within the clubhouse; clearly, it stays there,” Mendoza stated. “The previous few weeks, it looks like we had been combating just about every single day. No one talked about our clubhouse after we obtained to the second week of June with the very best document in baseball. Now we have the very best clubhouse. After which we begin dropping and everyone is speaking about, oh, a few of the points.”
Mendoza’s bullpen administration lately was criticized by former Mets reliever Adam Ottavino, who prompt the workforce didn’t do sufficient to maintain arms wholesome.
However Mendoza on Monday stated precautions had been taken.
“We had been in all probability one of many groups that protected the bullpen guys higher than anyone,” Mendoza stated. “You might be speaking about we had been ready to do this with so little size that we had been getting from the starters.
“I don’t suppose this can be a Mets concern. I feel that is an trade that this yr, we had been coping with lots of accidents. However I’m comfy with the method too. If you find yourself speaking about guys, who’s out there, there’s so many individuals, so many conversations that occur all through the day.”
Kai Correa’s addition as bench coach has Mendoza optimistic the workforce will present enchancment defensively, via recreation planning.
“This can be a man identified across the trade as top-of-the-line defensive coaches within the league,” Mendoza stated.
Correa beforehand served as a bench coach with the Giants.
