IT’S A CELLEBRATION
‘Hottest team in July' won't sit alone in basement after win over Fish
MIAMI — It was something.
A small glimmer of hope to take with them on a long flight to Toronto.
Todd Frazier heard Dom Smith say it across the room and so he shouted it out to the rest of the clubhouse.
“The hottest team in July,” Frazier repeated with a laugh.
After a brutal first half of the season, all that Frazier and the Mets can do now is move forward.
With the team in position to begin selling off later this month, its lofty spring goals of contending in the playoffs are effectively out of the picture.
Instead of focusing on what went wrong after an 11-1 start that ended with a brutal 5-21 record in June, the Mets wanted to turn the page.
The Mets salvaged a small piece of dignity Sunday, beating the Marlins 5-2 to avoid tying the worst first-half record in team history, set during the strike-shortened 1995 season.
After 81 games, the Mets head to Canada with a 33-48 record.
“It’s not where we want to be,” Frazier said, struggling for answers. “But we’ve got to look forward. We’re still missing some guys .... it’s one of those things, if you’re going good, you keep on doing what you are doing. If you are not, today was a good start. July 1, we got our first win (of July), hopefully that kick-starts us.
“I know I keep saying it,” Frazier added sheepishly, “but with a day off coming up, we’re going to have a get together as a team later, just have some fun. Hopefully this is our wake-up call.”
Mickey Callaway said the first 81 games of this season have been a learning experience. He came in preaching he would change the culture of the franchise, which has obviously been harder than he imagined.
“We learned a lot, we learned a lot about each other. When we ultimately get to where we want to get someday, these times are going to be very valuable to reflect on and learn from,” Callaway said. “We’d rather be winning games, but what has already happened has happened. We’re going to learn from it and move forward and do the best we can to win a game today and moving forward.”
Callaway said there have been small steps forward that will benefit the Mets in the long run.
He pointed to Amed Rosario, who came up as a freeswinging prospect, drawing three walks in Friday night’s game. And Steven Matz, who on Sunday didn’t let three errors and a stolen base rattle him like it would in the past.
“It’s big,” said Matz of getting over those mental hurdles. “I struggled with that early on in the season. When stuff starts to go out there and snowball on me so now I talk to Dave [Eiland] about that it’s a big step for me.”
But Callaway admitted that the first 81 games of his big-league managing career have been a challenge.
“It’s the first really rough patch I’ve been through in my professional coaching career as far as wins and losses. I am learning a little bit about that and what it takes to deal with that,” Callaway said.
Callaway feels he is still getting energy and effort and thinks the consistent approach will help to create a culture shift that will result in long-term results.
“We have to continue to change the things that need to be changed, so we’re putting ourselves in position when we start winning we can sustain it ,” Callaway said. “Not just go 11-1 and not be very good again.”
There are no do-overs or looking back. The Mets head into the second half of the season with a potential firesale looming, just hopeful it will be better than a disastrous first half.