Last season, the New York Mets made a magical run to the World Series only to lose to the Kansas City Royals in 5 games. Manager Terry Collins was rewarded by the Mets and received a two-year contract extension. In his 12 years as an MLB Manager, Collins has a record of 867-873 (his record in New York is 423-439.). Last year was the first time in his career that he made the post-season.
When Collins was first hired, he had a reputation as a disciplinarian with a Tom Coughlin-esque “old school” approach. From all indications, Collins seems to a be a very nice man and is well respected around the league as a “lifer” in baseball. The Mets started the season 15-7, but since then they are 14-16 for a combined record of 29-23. Part of the reason for their recent struggles is that some of their key players, like Lucas Duda and David Wright, have missed time because of injury; but another part of the reason is Collins.
The Mets are 1st in home runs, but 12th in runs scored in the National League. Under Collins, New York has lived and died by the long ball. They don’t manufacture runs at all. In the previous season they were last in stolen bases, and this year they are ranked 29th out of 30 teams in that category.
Living by the long ball wouldn’t be a bad strategy if the Mets had a mediocre pitching staff that gave up a ton of runs. You would want big innings and three-run home runs etc. But with Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, and Zach Wheeler, they have the makings of the best pitching staff in the history of baseball. Late in games, the Metropolitans should be bunting over runners and playing “small ball;” you don’t need to manage for the big inning. But Collins doesn’t let his team create runs; he continues to manage like it’s the 1980s and 90s. The result is that his style doesn’t fit the personnel at all.
I am not suggesting that Collins should be fired, but he has to evolve and change his coaching philosophy. For example, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick came into the NFL as a defensive Guru. He has since changed his style because the NFL has implemented a ton of rule changes that favor the offense.
Collins has never won a championship in his career, so he shouldn’t be so stubborn in his coaching philosophy. They say you can’t teach an “old dog” new tricks; but if Collins doesn’t evolve, he could be gone by the All-Star break, and that might not be a bad thing.
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