Acting GM Zack Scott Calls Mets' Recent Stretch 'Unacceptably Bad'

It has definitely not been all sunshines and rainbows for the Mets as of late, as they have lost 9-of-11 games, and have gone 9-15 since the All-Star break to fall all the way back to third place in the NL East.

Prior to Tuesday's contest with the Nationals, Mets acting general manager Zack Scott came before reporters to answer for the team's recent rough stretch.

"You can’t get too down or too high when things are going well," said Scott. "That said, we’ve played very mediocre baseball for most of the year. This recent stretch has been much worse than mediocre. We would've taken mediocre at this point. For this stretch it's been unacceptably bad and we need to be better."

Since starting off the season at 35-25, the Mets have gone 21-30 in their last 51 games, which is how they've gotten to this point. While it is clear that Scott is not happy with his team's performance, he stressed the importance of not panicking, and still believes in them given the fact that they are just 2.5 games back the division with eight weeks left to play.

"We’re not going to panic, because you can’t do that in this game," said Scott. "Obviously there’s plenty of games left and we have a chance to still compete and win this division. It’s baseball, and being in the game for a long time as you guys know, there’s always a chance."

A big reason why the Mets have gone from mediocre, to taking a nose dive, is due to their season-long struggles offensively. And regarding this aspect, Scott is having trouble pinpointing the root cause.

“That’s the tricky thing, right, is figuring out why. Most of our hitters are underperforming their career norms. Part of it, a little part of it, is that offense is down across the league, but that’s not explaining our situation. With some guys as we go through the season, we look at different things with each individual, an individualized approach."

"So there’s never one simple reason. Sometimes it’s a guy’s mechanics, getting them on track. Sometimes it’s their approach at the plate, what their plan is when they go to the plate, so it can be a lot of different things. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but it’s usually pretty complex.”

With 51 games left to right the ship, Scott says the Mets must find a healthy balance between having a sense of urgency and not being "too tight" to the point that they can't perform on the field. As far as if he believes that the team is pressing too much, Scott doesn't feel that's the case, but there have been instances, where some of the guys maybe try to do too much. So what's the solution to prevent this from happening? "Nip it in the butt" to avoid the snowball affect.

In the meantime, Scott made it clear that this poor stretch is not on manager Luis Rojas, who he credited for having a consistent style of leadership from inside the clubhouse.

"One of his biggest strengths, I think comes in handy where you’re having tough stretches, which is to stay pretty consistent, pretty even-keeled, positive, and supportive within the clubhouse walls. So that’s not the problem. It’s just the performance on the field."

"Caring’s not the problem - everyone cares. People were banging their heads against the wall losing sleep trying to figure out how they can help other people. … What I can do or what my department can do to help the team at this point is more limited… post trade deadline. But our job is not just about acquiring players, but it’s about setting them up for success. We’re not gonna stop exploring ways to improve how we’re supporting them, because we need to play better than this."

At this point, the Mets' front office feels that they have put the right process in place for the players to succeed, it's just not translating onto the field. And as they continue to search for answers, time is running out on the season.