Carlos Mendoza on preventing Mets snowball: 'Just try to take it one day at a time'

The Mets dropped their fourth straight game to start the season with a loss in extra innings to the Tigers on Monday night, leaving new manager Carlos Mendoza to ponder how he stops things from snowballing right out of the gate.

Coming off arguably the most disappointing season in franchise history, things can spiral in a hurry for New York, a team that was expected to compete for a playoff spot despite lowered expectations in 2024. That was the message from ownership and president of baseball operations David Stearns, but so far, the Mets have looked lifeless on offense and have lost another starting pitcher with Tylor Megill hitting the IL.

So, how does a first-year skipper stop the bleeding? Mendoza's response carried a similar refrain as the messages from other managers in Mets seasons past.

"Just try to take it one day at a time," Mendoza said. "Continue to prepare and go about your business the right way, and not try to do too much.

"At some point throughout the course of the year, you're gonna go through stretches like this. It happened to be the first four games of the season."

At this point in the season, is there anything else to be said? Probably not. As Mendoza noted, four games in the scope of a 161-game season is a ripple on a much larger pond, but when it happens at the beginning of the year, especially coming off the massive disappointment of 2023, emotions and narratives become magnified.

But the discontent among the fanbase, and questions about the future of the organization, will only grow louder if the losing continues. That wasn't on Mendoza's mind as he continued to await his first win as a big-league manager.

"It's one of those where you're trying to keep things simple," Mendoza said. "Control the things you can control, and just go out there and compete."