Yesterday was about as frustrating as it gets.  The Mets only scored one run in 13 innings despite drawing 13 walks.  The natural reaction is to try to figure out where things went wrong, to try to figure out why this happened.  There are many plausible and reasonable explanations.  However, when seeking out an answer to what is currently ailing the Mets, Terry Collins is not one of them.

Yes, Terry Collins has his faults as a manager.  He sticks with veterans too long.  He has a tendency to mismanage the bullpen.  He mismanaged the World Series so poorly he might’ve cost the team an opportunity to win the World Series.  There are many things wrong with him as a manager.  However, you cannot blame him for the current state of the Mets’ offense.

Terry Collins is not to blame for Travis d’Arnaud going down with a rotator cuff injury leaving him with the choice of the light hitting Kevin Plawecki or Rene Rivera each and every night.  Terry Collins is not to blame for Lucas Duda‘s pre-existing back issue or his subsequent (if unrelated) stress fracture.  He’s also not to blame for David Wright‘s spinal stenosis or the herniated disc in his neck.  You can’t blame Terry Collins that his had to start someone from the triumvirate of Eric Campbell, Ty Kelly, or Matt Reynolds at third base.  You can’t blame Terry Collins that the Mets had to go out and get James Loney, a player released by the Tampa Rays before the season began, to fill-in at first base.

Overall, the manager’s job is to get the best out of his players.  It is not to suddenly turn Kevin Plawecki and Ty Kelly into capable major league hitters.  That’s unfair and unreasonable.

While there is plenty of blame to go around for the offense, it’s not on Collins.  In fact, you could argue that given the current state of the offense, Collins is exactly the manager you want in charge of the Mets.  The Mets faced similar issues last year while Collins was at the helm.  He had a young starting rotation going out there putting terrific start after terrific start just hoping the offense could score a run or two to get them the win.  This is the type of environment that coiuld’ve fractured a team.  It’s the type of environment when players could start getting frustrated and take those frustrations out on the field.  Instead, Terry Collins held that team together until the team got healthy and Sandy Alderson could get reinforcements in place.  A year later, the Mets are in the same exact position.

So, overall, Terry Collins is not to blame.  In fact, he has shown that he is the exact manager you want in place right now.  The World Series?  Well, that’s a whole other matter.  Let’s get through this rough patch first before discussing that point.