The dress rehearsal lasted six weeks and progressed without a noticeable glitch. Now it gets real for Mickey Callaway, new manager of the Mets. Make that new manager, period.
Mickey Ball will be unveiled to the legions at Citi Field on Thursday, when the 42-year-old Callaway assumes his perch in the first-base dugout on Opening Day against the Cardinals to usher in a new Mets era.
“For me, the best thing is he’s pretty young,” Yoenis Cespedes said Wednesday following a team workout. “He thinks more the way we think, the players. I think that is a big point.”
Callaway, the former Indians pitching coach, was hired Oct. 23 as Terry Collins’ replacement following the Mets’ disastrous 70-92 season. In Callaway, general manager Sandy Alderson found an analytically savvy pitching guru well respected for his communication skills.
But Callaway cautioned on several occasions this spring that he is more than a numbers cruncher. His challenge for 2018 is taking a largely talented group that underachieved, because of injuries and underperformance, and transform it into a unit that can compete for an NL East title with the heavily favored Nationals.
“I feel like when you see the Mets play you are going to see a team that plays the game the right way,” Callaway said. “It’s not about always speed and things like that. It’s about playing the game the right way.”
Callaway oversees a decidedly veteran team that will rely heavily on the likes of Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier and Asdrubal Cabrera to carry a lineup with plenty of home-run potential. Bruce and Frazier were added on free-agent contracts over the winter as the biggest moves in a busy offseason. Adrian Gonzalez and reliever Anthony Swarzak also signed, and Jose Reyes was brought back in a utility role.
But the Mets’ fortunes this season will largely be dictated by a pitching staff that includes Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey, with Jeurys Famila, AJ Ramos and Swarzak in the bullpen.
Callaway’s job is to bring it together.
“His stature walking around, he’s somebody you want to get behind and have as a leader,” Syndergaard said gushingly, without noticing Callaway had entered the interview room. “He’s standing in the room, dammit.”
Bruce got to know Callaway in the final two months of last season when both were with the Indians and says the Mets selected the right manager.
“He is honest and he expects a certain amount of execution and preparation out of guys,” Bruce said. “There aren’t a lot of rules and there isn’t a lot of micromanaging going on. He wants you to be a grown-up and a professional and come to play and that is great for us.”
Callaway promised throughout spring training that players would be held accountable, and showed that side immediately, scratching Dominic Smith from his first Grapefruit League start after the player showed up late for a team meeting.
Underperforming Zack Wheeler was bounced from the major league team to Triple-A Las Vegas to start the season, along with Hansel Robles.
“Everybody has a job that they are supposed to do and you need to go out there and do your job,” deGrom said. “Accountability was a big thing and that was kind of preached in spring and you kind of saw how we went about our business in spring and it’s going to carry over into the year.”
Callaway called spring training a “great learning experience,” but now will be graded on wins and losses above all other factors. His most ardent critics will be nearby.
“I am hoping to lead a team that goes out there and plays with respect for the fans,” Callaway said, noting that he likes to stand in the dugout about an hour before the first pitch to watch fans arrive and the ballpark energize.
“I have never been able to do that in Citi Field. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like. That is when I am going to get the goose bumps, watching all our supporters come in to see something special.”
