The New York Mets have dropped four straight games and have a 9-15 record in the second half. That’s usually associated with a last place team, not one fighting to make the playoffs. Frustration is building up in Queens, and fans are already worried about missing the postseason yet another time.
The Mets’ collapse, however, is not threatening manager Luis Rojas’ job, at least not yet. According to New York Post’s Joel Sherman, sources close to owner Steve Cohen told him that firing Rojas is not an option right now.
After the recent skid, the Mets are 56-55. What was once a five-game lead in the NL East has turned into a fall to third place, 2.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and half a game behind the Atlanta Braves.
The source close to the Mets’ owner said that Cohen “is not holding the manager responsible for the poor play.â€
The Mets owner doesn’t want to overreact
Per Sherman, “Cohen believes this is a different time with a different type of player makeup than when George Steinbrenner used to fire Yankees managers regularly in bad periods for the club and/or to try to jolt players into better play,†the source said.
It’s also fair to point out that the Mets have suffered lots of injuries, perhaps more than any other team in the league. They are currently playing without their best position player, Francisco Lindor, and their best pitcher, Jacob deGrom, just to name a couple of examples.
Players such as Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Carlos Carrasco, Jose Peraza, Luis Guillorme, Joey Lucchesi, Jordan Yamamoto, Dellin Betances, and Robert Gsellman have all missed major playing time due to injuries, and another top starter, Noah Syndergaard, is yet to return.
The Mets are still relatively close in the NL East race, he reportedly doesn’t want to overreact, because, per Sherman, there remains a third of the season for the Mets to right themselves and win the division, the source said.