Despite other managerial firings, ‘business as usual’ for Mets Carlos Mendoza

Another manager was fired Tuesday, with the Philadelphia Phillies cutting ties with Rob Thomson, a few days after the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and several members of his staff. Meanwhile, in Queens, everything is “business as usual” for the Mets as they begin a series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday at Citi Field.

At 9-19, the Mets share the worst record in baseball with the Phillies, leading many to expect a managerial change Monday, the day after being swept by the Colorado Rockies. Monday came and went without any personnel changes.

Mendoza attended the team’s annual Home Runs and Highballs event, the Amazin’ Mets Foundation’s marquee fundraiser. Tuesday afternoon, he spoke with president of baseball operations David Stearns, then sat up on the dais and took questions from the media, just like he does every day as the manager.

While Stearns and Steve Cohen have not given him any definitive indicator that his job is safe, they also haven’t said anything that would lead him to think otherwise.

“With David, it’s business as usual, and with Steve, it’s the same,” Mendoza said. “I understand [the questioning], but as of now, we’ll continue to take it as business as usual.”

The Mets are continuing to forge ahead with the team built by Stearns and managed by Mendoza, despite suboptimal results. The Mets still believe the blueprint they laid out over the winter with this roster will lead to success.

“I believe in those guys, and I will continue to do so,” Mendoza said. “It’s my job to get the best out of them — it’s our job, but yeah, we’ve got to believe in the players.”

The run production has been absolutely abysmal, and while each element of the game — hitting, starting pitching, relief pitching, and defense — has held the Mets back at some point or another, an inability to drive in runs has been preventing wins. After all, you have to score runs to win games. In 18 innings of play Sunday against Colorado, the Mets managed only a single run, which is on par with their results this season.

It’s unfathomable for a lineup with hitters like Juan Soto, and . The lineup is hitting the ball on the ground 44.3% of the time, the ninth-highest rate in baseball, according to Fangraphs.