Needless to say, it’s been a bad week in Mets land.
Perhaps the moment that best sums it all up is an extremely awkward moment on the team’s PIX 11 pregame show Friday night.
The Mets were swept away by the Cubs in four games to start the week. Injury woes continued with Marcus Semien hitting the injured list and Juan Soto experiencing back discomfort early in the week. The morning after that Cubs series ended, news broke that they had fired manager Carlos Mendoza.
On Friday night, despite a great performance by rookie starting pitcher Zach Thornton in interim Mets skipper Andy Green’s debut, they dropped their seventh game in a row with a 2-1 loss to the rival Phillies.
On Friday night before the game, though, an awkward moment on the TV broadcast with Steve Gelbs and Mr. Met put a weird note on the week.
The sideline reporter was doing a live hit on the field discussing Mendoza’s firing when Mr. Met appeared behind him in frame…and began dancing.
With such a somber topic being discussed, it was an uncomfortable moment as Gelbs discussed the rough state of the franchise. But Mr. Met just wouldn’t disappear.
Gelbs, in a professional manner, continued the segment, pretending like nothing was happening behind him.
When asked about their emotions surrounding Mendoza’s firing, several players — including Francisco Lindor — placed the blame on themselves and discussed their close relationships with their former manager.
President of baseball operations David Stearns seemed somber in his pregame availability as well, but did express optimism for the future.
“I believe that we are building the foundation of an organization that can deliver what we all want,” Stearns said, when asked why he hasn’t considered stepping down. “I don’t believe that our record on the field this year is indicative of some of the advancements that we have made in the organization, but clearly our record is nowhere good enough.”
With their loss Friday night, the Mets fell to 34-48, a season-worst 14 games under .500. They’re 10 games out of a National League wild-card spot.
