Adam Ottavino's NY Mets criticism is something Carlos Mendoza needs to take to heart

When a former player unloads on his old manager, the easiest reaction is to roll your eyes. It’s a tale as old as baseball: a veteran pushed out of the circle of trust airs his grievances on the way out the door, and the fanbase dismisses it as sour grapes. But Adam Ottavino’s recent scorched-earth comments on his Baseball & Coffee podcast regarding Mets manager Carlos Mendoza feel different. They don't sound like the whining of a disgruntled employee; they sound like a diagnosis.

Ottavino, who spent three seasons in Queens, didn't just critique Mendoza’s bullpen management; he eviscerated it. While acknowledging Mendoza is “really good under stress,” Ottavino claimed the skipper has “no idea” how to keep pitchers healthy, possessing “no bedside manner” and failing to communicate effectively with injured players. "This is embarrassing. This is actually pathetic," Ottavino said of the team's injury woes. "I would have never let this happen if I was on the team last year." These aren't just insults—they are specific, structural critiques that the Mets organization needs to take seriously.

A fatal flaw in the managerial approach

The core of Ottavino’s argument exposes a dangerous blind spot in Mendoza’s philosophy: the reliance on "gut feel" over physiological sustainability. Throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Mendoza was often praised for managing with his instincts, ignoring analytics to leave a starter in for one more batter or pushing a reliever for a multi-inning save. While this makes for heroic storytelling when it works, Ottavino suggests the bill for those decisions is coming due in the form of torn ligaments. When a manager operates on "feel" without a fundamental understanding of—or respect for—arm care, he isn't managing a bullpen; he's burning it down.

The evidence supporting Ottavino's claims is hard to ignore. The Mets' 2025 season was defined by a catastrophic attrition rate in the pitching staff, with eight pitchers suffering season-ending injuries and five requiring Tommy John surgery. President of Baseball Operations David Stearns has tried to wave this off as an "industry-wide phenomenon," but that excuse is wearing thin. When a veteran reliever explicitly states that the manager uses players "haphazardly" and that there is "no communication" regarding health, the injury plague looks less like bad luck and more like gross negligence.

Furthermore, the "no bedside manner" comment points to a disconnect that could poison the clubhouse. Modern players know their bodies better than ever; they have their own data, their own trainers, and their own limits. If Mendoza is viewed as a manager who will pressure "compromised" players to take the mound without offering the requisite empathy or communication when they inevitably break, he will lose the room. A manager can only demand sacrifice if his soldiers believe he has their best interests at heart. Ottavino is signaling that, for the pitchers at least, that trust is gone.

Ultimately, this criticism is a wake-up call for the Mets' front office. Carlos Mendoza has proven he can handle the New York media and the pressure of the ninth inning, but he may be actively hazardous to the franchise's long-term assets. If the Mets want to compete in 2026, they cannot afford another year of "haphazard" usage. Mendoza needs to prove he can evolve from a "gut feel" tactician into a responsible steward of his roster, or the Mets will continue to spend their seasons watching their best arms recovering on the IL rather than pitching at Citi Field.