The anger within the New York Mets squad is now spilling on camera. However, there are some things that you can say but some things that aren’t meant to be spoken. Their reliever Jorge Lopez may have crossed that thin line in his postgame interview. While the Mets’ embarrassing 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers raised many questions, the talk of the town was nonetheless the situation during the eighth inning.
For the Mets, this homestand is turning into nothing less than a total disappointment (which is increasing calls for possible trades). However, things became slightly out of control in the eighth inning when Lopez stood on the mound. The pitcher had issues with the umpire’s call on Freddie Freeman’s check swing. However, in his frustration, he ended up arguing with the umpire and was promptly ejected. That led to Jorge Lopez firing his glove to the crowd in anger. However, later in his postgame interview, Lopez’s frustration spilled onto his own team.
During his bizarre postgame interview, Lopez denied feeling any regrets about his action. But the shock came when he seemingly called the New York Mets, “the worst team probably in the whole f***ing MLB,” though there was some confusion. Lopez, a native Spanish speaker was speaking in English and may have misspoken some words. Later, as per Mets Beat writer Anthony DiComo, Lopez clarified that he meant that he was “the worst teammate on the worst team.”
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"I don't regret it."
– Jorge López on his glove toss pic.twitter.com/NB0cDJ5w0i
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2024
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The situation spiraled backstage where the Mets’ manager Carlos Mendoza and president of baseball operations David Stearns confronted Lopez (per MLB.com). The skipper called his actions “unacceptable” and later in a surprising development, the New York Mets designated Lopez for assignment on Wednesday night.
But while this happened, the Mets’ clubhouse had an all-hands-on-deck meeting for the first time in a long while. The squad had to make some tough decisions with results spiraling out of control.
The New York Mets conducts an all-player meeting to find their core issues
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Francisco Lindor led the New York Mets’ player-only meeting for almost 40 minutes. With the team 11 games under .500, nearly the entire roster shared their views on the current state of the team. Veteran Brandon Nimmo shared, “It just felt like a boiling-over point, it felt like the right time to do it. You try and give space.”
Multiple players noted that the core message of the meeting was simple – things need to change. And for things to change, the players need to change some of their habits. Even veterans agreeing that some of their ways weren’t working may have been a much-needed positive development for the Metsies. As for Jorge Lopez, the officials felt he embarrassed the club during this interview. That forced them to relieve the $2 million pitcher of his duties. So will this lead to their results changing for the better? Or will the New York Mets continue to flounder around?