Mets' Former Manager Offers Suggestions to Ignite 2026 Team

After digging themselves into an early hole, the New York Mets are looking for ways to climb back out.

Despite a miserable April performance, New York is trusting both manager Carlos Mendoza and president of baseball operations David Stearns to get the club back on track. With management getting a vote of confidence, it is now up to the players to produce.

When rumors were swirling around whether or not Mendoza would be fired, numerous players came to his defense and claimed that he was putting them into positions to succeed. These sentiments and respect in the clubhouse likely saved Mendoza's job, but how can he build morale from here?

A few suggestions were provided by SNY analyst and former Mets manager Terry Collins on Tuesday. Answering questions from fans on Mets Mailbag, Collins was asked how he would address New York's April struggles if he were in the dugout today.

"Losing streaks are not fun, but every team during a season is going to have some kind of losing streak," Collins said. "For me, you have to remain as positive as you can. The one thing that happens on [struggling] teams is guys get frustrated and try to do too much. They want to be the guy who breaks them out of the losing streak, and that's not how you do it. You just have to continue to play the game and put your players into situations that their strengths play and you can get the most out of them."

How would @TerryCollins_10 address the Mets' struggles as manager?

Terry answers your questions along with @NikiLattarulo on a new edition of Mets Mailbag 📬 pic.twitter.com/gyMaANUY2U
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 5, 2026

"You can also try to make it fun a little bit," Collins continued. "I had a losing streak in Anaheim one year and we decided we were going to use one bat. So we took the guy who had the hottest bat and everybody on the team used it one night. And we won! You know, it was just something to try and let them know that 'Hey look, the game is still fun even though it's miserable losing.' When they come to the ballpark, they gotta know that there's still fun to get out of on the field of play."

Collins' words do carry some weight due to his status as one of the Mets' longest tenured and successful skippers. Despite an overall losing record (551-583) in seven seasons at the helm, the now 78-year-old led the Amazins' to consecutive playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016, winning the National League pennant in 2015.

These suggestions by Collins certainly don't say that Mendoza isn't trying to liven up the clubhouse. He very well could be, with things such as a new home run celebration with a construction helmet and sledgehammer being introduced recently. But when relief pitcher Luke Weaver talked about the team's struggles in a fairly recent interview, he emphasized a "pursuit of perfection" among the team's key players and that they could lessen the pressure by trying to find "the joy of why you play the game."

Luke Weaver says the Mets could help lessen the pressure on themselves by simplifying things:

"Maybe it's more about just enjoying why you do this for a living, trying to find your inner kid, the joy of why you play the game" pic.twitter.com/NvYRcVnzke
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 30, 2026

It's certainly a very interesting situation because the Mets are a vastly revamped team compared to last year. Previous leaders like Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo are gone and were replaced by newcomers like Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., Marcus Semien, Weaver and Devin Williams. Even Carson Benge can apply to this as he acquires his first taste of the big leagues.

Mets Gradually Showing Signs of Momentum

Although the Mets are still sitting in last place in the NL East with a 13-22 record, they've won three of their last four by taking two of three against the Los Angeles Angels this weekend and winning Monday's series opener in Colorado. Benge in particular is getting hot at the plate and making highlight-reel catches on a daily basis. Mark Vientos drove in six runs over New York's last two games and is hitting .308/.357/.615 since April 24.

Carson Benge is starting to feel it at the plate as well as in the field. He breaks up Tomoyuki Sugano's no-hit bid with a 436-feet bomb to lead off the sixth.

Benge's first 21 games: .136 average
Benge's last 11 games: .303 average pic.twitter.com/jzwuCUCJFY
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 4, 2026

Perhaps Mendoza's efforts to relieve the outside pressure and build morale are showing results, even if the team hasn't entirely gelled yet. With younger players like Benge and Vientos getting hot, Clay Holmes stepping up as the most consistent arm in the rotation, and David Peterson embracing a role as a bulk reliever, it is now up to the team's biggest stars to loosen up and let the moment come to them.

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