Some of Buck Showalter’s decision making and explanations for those decisions gave Evan some painful flashbacks in the Mets’ weekend series sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays.
Mainly during Saturday’s narrow defeat to Toronto, when Showalter elected to go after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the ninth inning with two outs and the game tied.
The result? Guerrero laced what would be the game-winning double, with first base open, in a painful loss for New York.
Showalter later told reporters he had considered walking Guerrero, but he trusted Robertson in that spot and mentioned how it would have set the Mets up well for the 10th if they retired Guerrero.
Evan likened that response to something he would have heard from Luis Rojas or Mickey Callaway.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Evan said. “You’re thinking about the 10th inning? You gotta get to the 10th inning!
“That’s not just bad managing, that’s Rojasian managing. That’s Callawayian managing. I’ll go back even further. That’s Art Howeian managing. That cannot happen with the genius known as Buck Showalter.”
Evan also didn’t like Showalter sticking with Dominic Leone in Sunday’s loss, leading to a home run that proved to be the difference for Toronto. It led Craig to wonder if Showalter’s best managerial days are behind him, something that Evan is not ruling out.
“That’s on the table,” Evan said.
If the Mets and Buck Showalter are going to wake up and turn things around, Evan says it has to start with this week’s critical series against Atlanta.
“I think this is the most significant June series one can have,” Evan said. “If there’s a June series that really matters, this is the biggest one you can have.
“They gotta get their heads out of their a--es because I’m concerned.”
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