Mets can’t blame Terry Collins for struggles

The Mets don’t sit 12 games out of a playoff spot with a record of 31-41 because of Terry Collins.

In fact, the Mets’ record would probably be much worse with a different manager.

Sure, he is far from the best in-game manager in baseball, but the job entails a whole lot more than deciding when to bring in a relief pitcher or choosing a pinch-hitter.

Collins’ ability to get the most out of his players is what makes him a good manager.

On August 20 of last season, they were 60-62, fifth in the National League wild-card race, and 5.5 games out of a playoff spot with 40 games to go.

They went on to win 27 of those games and made the postseason. Collins was the biggest reason why.

He was able to keep the players motivated and positive despite the mountain they needed to climb, which is the reason why they were able to persevere and play beyond the regular season.

This skill is Collins’ biggest managerial strength and it led to him being named 2015 Sporting News NL Manager of the Year.

So no, Collins is not the reason the Mets are 10 games under .500.

He isn’t the reason that Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Lucas Duda, Seth Lugo, Jeurys Familia, Brandon Nimmo, David Wright, Asdrubal Cabrera, Noah Syndergaard, Tommy Milone, Neil Walker, Juan Lagares, Josh Smoker, Yoenis Cespedes, Wilmer Flores, Steven Matz, and Travis d’Arnaud have, as a group, spent a total of 567 days on the disabled list so far this season.

Jose Reyes isn’t hitting under .200 because of something that the manager did.

He isn’t the cause of the team’s starting pitchers posting an 5.07 ERA as a group to this point in this season. Coming into 2017, the Mets had arguably the best starting rotation in all of baseball.

Next: Mets seriously considering moving Asdrubal Cabrera to second base for Jose Reyes

These are some of the reasons that the Mets have their worst record through 72 games since 2013, but Terry Collins is not one of them.