Mets back Carlos Mendoza during brutal 11-game losing streak: ‘Everyone has a part in this’

Williams could have an issue with how he’s being used, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Without a natural place to slot him in, Williams has pitched only twice in the last week, and had eight days of rest before pitching Wednesday in a loss to the Dodgers. The results haven’t been great: In seven games this season, he has a 7.11 ERA with two saves and one blown save.

Still, Williams isn’t entertaining any arguments about his usage.

“My job is to be there, be prepared and finish games when they get me the ball,” he said. “I didn’t do that today.”

In today’s game, many in-game decisions aren’t even dictated by the manager, though it’s generally believed that Mendoza has a fair amount of autonomy in the dugout. Every decision is going to be scrutinized in New York, win or lose, regardless of who is making them.

The decision to have Craig Kimbrel pitch to Nico Hoerner in the 10th, instead of walking him to set up a double play, could have been made by the analytics team. Or, it could have been made by a manager who can’t trust his middle infielders to turn one right now.

If they had walked Hoerner and the next hitter, Michael Busch, it would have loaded the bases and set up a force-out at home. The Mets haven’t been adept at those plays this season.

Ultimately, this seems to fall on Stearns. He’s the architect of the roster coached and managed by his handpicked staff. In his third season running the baseball operations department, he has effectively put his stamp on the team, doing so without emotion or an attachment to players of teams past.

Now, the Mets are playing in a similar fashion — without emotion, or Grimace, or OMG, or anything remotely fun. The Mets aren’t supposed to be this buttoned up and corporate, yet the team on the field is playing like a group of co-workers who barely know each other and can’t wait for their next Teams meeting to end.

Fans are losing their emotional attachment. Why would they want to show up for games when this is the product on the field? Where is the entertainment value? Who are the heroes they’re supposed to root for?

There is no lack of talent, but the Mets are lacking quite a bit. They’re lacking an identity and chemistry on the field. The manager can’t provide those attributes; he can only help the team find them on their own.

“It’s all of us,” said left-hander David Peterson. “We’re in this together. Everyone has a part in this, and we’ve got to stick together. Everyone has to take responsibility and accountability. We all need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better to help this team move in the right direction.”