This Week in Mets Quotes: Wet, Cold, NYC Spring

Your 2023 New York Mets: We’ll see.

“We’ll see. Down the road, we are always looking for, ‘Something means this is going to happen,’ and it doesn’t. That’s why we watch the games. We think about some pattern and all of a sudden something breaks from it. We, including me, are trying to figure out why things happen, trying to keep them from happening. The Braves are a good team. You know they are going to be there all year.” -Buck Showalter [MLB]

“At the end of the year, [The Braves] might be the best team in their division or in the league and we may not be. Who knows. That’s real dangerous to think like that and to be playing this game mathematically. I wish it was that easy. ‘If we do X, this is going to happen.’ It doesn’t work that way. It’s human beings. It’s a baseball season. It’s not a algorithm.” -Buck Showalter [MLB]

Honestly, forgot the Mets actually won a game this week.

“I’m so proud of the way everybody battled. There were so many opportunities to give in today and they never did. Eighteen innings of baseball is a challenge.” -Buck Showalter [MLB]

In real time, it was pretty obvious they were going to call it and the game was over.

“I didn’t really think that they were gonna be calling it. I just knew that we put up four (runs) and it was really important for me to go out there and just try to put up a zero.” -Max Fried [MLB]

Alvarez has a plan and he likes his plan.

“I think the most important thing is going up with a plan, following that plan and executing that plan. If something goes out of whack or goes out of control, you take a deep breath and continue trying to execute the plan that you have there. That’s what I’ve been trying to do the last couple of weeks.” -Francisco Alvarez [MLB]

No offense, but getting some real third-grade book report vibes from this quote.

“Álvarez put us up big there — it was big for him, too. I think it gave him a little bit of confidence. He is one of the best players I’ve ever seen. He is one of the hardest workers I’ve seen. He is very humble and he goes about his business. He comes to the ballpark every day and works really hard. He is a good player.” -Brett Baty [MLB]

Verlander and Scherzer return to Detroit could’ve went better if your a fan of their current team.

“I grew up here. I was here for 12-plus years, drafted here and obviously spent a lot of fun years here. I think any athlete in any situation when they gave that much to an organization and that much of their career somewhere, it’s nice to hear the ovation, to hear the applause. That’s a fan’s way of saying thank you.” -Justin Verlander [MLB]

“Bittersweet. It’s tough to have something feel good when you don’t pitch well. But I’m very appreciative of the fans here and their support.” -Max Scherzer [MLB]

It has been good.

“I think it’s made a huge difference [Baty said about his 11-game Major League stint in 2022]. But at the end of the day, I’m just trying to go up there and swing at the right pitches and hit the ball hard. That’s what I’m going to do no matter where I’m playing. I feel like it’s been good.” -Brett Baty [New York Daily News]

Buck takes his usual meandering approach to talking about the kids.

“When you’re good at something, there isn’t a whole lot of anxiety, but I think it comes from not being sure about the level that you’re going to. A lot of times what happens in the minor leagues now is that the guys don’t master a level before they get promoted. That’s been a change. But I feel good about our guys, whether it be [Francisco Alvarez] and Baty because of what they did at the level behind them. When you have that doubt about that level and then you put them in another level, some of these guys think that all they’ve got to do is spend a year at each level and it’s our responsibility to promote them, but it doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to show us that you’re good enough at that level to try the next level.” -Buck Showalter

Really great read on what it’s like playing for Buck [Paywall]

“I remember Buck walking up to me one day about the sixth inning — the lull of the game — and asking me to look him in the eye. He says, ‘Tell me the score. Tell me who’s hitting. Tell me who’s pitching. Tell me who’s on deck. Tell me if there’s a guy in the bullpen. How many outs? What’s the count?’ And I’m trying to look at the scoreboard. He said, ‘Keep looking at me.’ “He walked away and said, ‘That’s what I expect of you. That’s how he works, that’s how he operates.” -Ian Kinsler [The Athletic]

Mets Tweets of the Week

SiteBot FacePalm of the Week

“And I get why they ultimately decided against the roof. Back then, $125 million was a lot of money — although I’d point out now that they would have been better off spending the loot on a roof than Jason Bay, or as much as we all loved David Wright, even the Mets’ captain.” -Jon Heyman [New York Post]