Boonie Bites: Carlos Mendoza Talks Star-Studded Mets' Lineup

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Now all of a sudden, you got six, the man.

How do you deal with that as a skipper?

Yeah, he comes down to people.

He comes down to relationships, the connections,

and earning and building the trust is two way street here.

But just kind of getting to know who they are

on and off the field and develop, like I said,

those relationships.

That's where everything starts.

We all have the same goals.

You mentioned a lot of the superstars.

We got a lot of them, right?

But they're here on a mission.

We know what's expected.

They know what's ahead of us and the opportunity

that we have here.

Great group of guys, their grinders, guys that,

as soon as they walk in the locker room, it's go time.

What do we need to do to beat the other team today?

And that's all he matters.

I like the fact that a lot of these guys

show up here early in camp and the relationships.

Everything that's going on around this building

in the first three weeks or so, it's been amazing.

Again, a lot of good players, different personalities,

but it comes out to people, man.

You just have to meet them where they are,

build the connections, the relationships,

so they can trust, not only me as a manager,

but the coaching staff as well.

No, Carlos, I've been in this game kind of my whole life.

You get to certain stages of your life, your career,

and you think, well, man, I've seen it all.

And I grew up in this game.

I played this game.

I've coached, I've done media all sides of it.

And I think, yeah, yeah, I pretty much know everything.

I'll tell you what, last year going back in uniform,

back in the field, it was another course for me.

You know, you've been on that side for a while now

on the staff side of the ledger.

And a guy like me coming in thinking,

okay, I had an open mind, I wanted to learn.

It was educational for me to see what it's like

on that side, on the staff side,

what goes into it on a day-to-day basis.

I had a lot of respect for it.

And I joke, I wanted to go back to my career

and apologize to every coach I ever had.

And said, I had no idea when the game was over

and you had that barrier between coaches, coaches area

and players area.

We have no idea as players what the staff goes

through on a daily basis.

And I wanted to do that.

But for you now, in your third year as a skipper,

going into, what have you learned in the first two years

that, oh, I didn't, you know, I've kind of been around it.

I've been a bench coach, I've watched, I've seen it all.

But now the sudden you're the guy in your third year,

what have you learned most about being a skipper?

Yeah, I think you always learned, like you said,

it was educational for you, right?

When you came on board, it's still educational for me

every day because there's so much out there now,

so many people, so many departments,

there's a lot of information.

But you just gotta keep it simple.

I think you learn every day, but you just reinforce

a lot of the things that you already knew.

I'm gonna go back to the relationships

to the human side of things, you know?

It comes out to people playing the game.

But as far as the learning, man, like every day,

you learn something new, you challenge yourself,

you challenge people around the building

and you just keep going.

The importance of communication,

like I said, you knew coming in as a coach, as a manager,

like you have to communicate.

And it's not something that I will say, I'm learning,

I'm saying I'm, it's reinforced.

You know, like, you knew you have to,

you have to be a really good communicator,

whether you're a coach, whether you're a manager,

every time you're in a leadership position,

you gotta be able to communicate.

And that's where it starts, right?

You learn about the game every day,

you learn about organizations,

and yeah, I think it's just more,

you have to stay in school.

You say it was educational, right?

For me, I feel like you come to school every day

and you're trying to learn something.

You're in field, it's interesting,

because you're getting to Boba Shad,

who's been pretty much a shortstop his whole career,

moved over to second base last year,

late in the season for the Blue Jays.

Polanco coming over from Seattle,

it's been a second basement, had some injuries,

DH, Simeon's been, you know, came up as a short side,

he's been the second, but he's gonna play second base for you.

And then you've got Lendor at short,

who's not changing positions.

How big of a challenge is that?

I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong,

I believe the sheds gonna play third,

Polanco's gonna play first,

maybe DH, Simeon's gonna play second,

obviously, Lendor at short.

How's that transition going for those guys?

Because a couple guys are kinda exploring new positions

that they really haven't played much.

Now, coming up as a shortstop for a Boba Shad,

moving over to third, that's not gonna be a big deal.

It's gonna take some time in spring training, the angles,

but I think any shortstop I've ever met

has no problem moving anywhere on the field.

So, just tell me their progress,

how it's looked so far in spring training.

I know Bo's at the World Baseball Classic.

Bo's here, brother's here.

Yeah, Bo's here, his brother's the one playing for time.

Oh, okay.

Oh, okay.

I saw him in the shed and I'm going, wait a minute.

No, Bo's here and he's going well, man.

This kid, like you say, he came up as a shortstop, right?

But the work ethic, the athleticism, the aptitude,

he's willing to get better every day.

He's asking really good questions.

He's putting all the work,

but now that we started playing games,

that's when the real teaching starts.

You can replicate fungos and things like that.

You gotta go out there and play.

Angles, the reaction, the decision making,

when that balls hit and a third base,

there's gonna be a lot of time for it.

He's gonna have to commit and make that decision

where I'm gonna go for this ball.

I'm gonna have to create some space

and go back, position him, coming in on guys you can run,

cut and relays, just a lot of the things

that the game will teach,

but pretty happy where he's at with his progression

and how he's coming along.

The other thing that I was surprised with him,

because as a shortstop,

I never saw like a plus farm from him.

This is a guy that was always charging the ball,

a lot of throws on the run, men,

but at the first time I was watching

take round balls at third base,

he was letting it, and I was like, wow ball, I got it.

And he's like, I got a good arm.

And that's what we've seen here too,

in the first few weeks here.

With Polanco, this is another shortstop.

He came up as a shortstop as well.

He got to the big leagues as a shortstop,

then he started moving around,

and now I'll say I'm third and now first base.

That's another one that is going to take some time.

I think people nowadays,

just think I put in my first base,

anybody can play first base, that's completely wrong.

You know, because they're so much,

they're touching the baseball a lot,

and there's so much that again,

the game will teach these guys positioning.

These guys are so used to going up balls hit,

they're going up to the ball.

That ball in a four hole,

the second baseman's probably right there, Marcus,

and they got to go back to the base.

The PFP, you know, understanding your pitching staff,

how far you need to be off the base, cuts and relays, you know,

ball of the middle with runners in scoring position,

they got to sprint to that now to get to the cut position.

It's just the footwork that we see in part.

That's not easy either, you know,

like being able to use the whole back,

you know, whether you have to stretch to your left,

whether you have to stretch to your right,

like there's a lot that this first baseman needs to learn,

but with Polanco, in breadbady,

we haven't mentioned breadbady,

but this is another guy that is learning that position,

and they're all doing really well.

Like I said, I'm pleased with where they are,

and continue to look forward to get these guys

in a really good place here.

I think you bring up a great point,

and everybody just thinks,

I'll just go to first base.

You know, slugs play first base, you're right.

I mean, because when you have the good fortune

of playing with a great first baseman,

there is a difference, and it is the little things.

From a talent perspective, yes,

any shortstop's gonna go over to first base

and have an unbelievable feel.

That's just their shortstop.

So the best, the most talented player in the field,

I contend, they always have been.

That's why you grow up,

where's the best player playing Little Leaky, play short?

And then you go to second, and then you go to third,

and then you go to the alpha,

you try to play center, if you're not quick enough,

you go to a corner, maybe a first,

but first base is something, it's an acquired thing.

And I think what you point out,

the little, the nuances, the cutoffs, the relays,

as a second baseman, that first baseman,

cutting in front of me, making a play,

or cutting in front of me, not getting the ball.

And now I've got to hit a pitcher on the run.

You know, any time Johnny OlaRood would,

would vacate to early, he wouldn't get the ball.

I got to give him a look mid play,

hit that pitcher on the run and say,

Johnny, I am not a quarterback.

I'm a second baseman, I'm just hit people on the run.

But those are little things that are huge.

Yes, you know, you got that ground ball on the forehole

and the first baseman, it's diving for it.

And the second baseman's right there, it's like,

now you're throwing to a moving target

because that pitchers getting over the first base

that when it should have been a four-three play, right?

So he's something that we've been hammering on the backfields,

but I'm glad that he's happening already

a couple of times and he's handled himself very well.

Yeah, because I just think as an athlete, as a shortstop,

he's going after the ball.

You go get it, go get it.