Former Mets manager Terry Collins advocates retaliation by pitchers when teammates are being hit by pitches

Former New York Mets manager Terry Collins has an old-school approach to the game. He started his managerial career with the Houston Astros in 1994, where he would spend three seasons before becoming the Anaheim Angels manager in 1997.

After that, Collins got a chance to manage in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in 2007 and was the Chinese national team's manager for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

He came back to the U.S. to manage the Amazins in 2011. He would stay with the team until the end of the 2017 season when he retired. Now, as a fan of the team, he does not like how much the batters have been hit and has a solution for their problem.

"Once in a while, the pitchers themselves got to take it into their hands," said Terry Collins.

Terry Collins wants to see the Mets pitchers respond and take things into their own hands. The team finished the year being hit the most last season and is ranked second this season behind the Seattle Mariners.

While plunking has helped them win a game, they have dealt with some scary situations. Recently, on Saturday, August 26, slugger Pete Alonso was hit right below the ear in a game against the Los Angeles Angels. Luckily, he was not injured and could return to the lineup the next day.

Collins believes that, until the team responds, pitchers will continue to pound them inside without worry. If they want to protect their guys, they have to do something.

Terry Collins wants to see the New York Mets get it together

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Terry Collins is a baseball lifer and understands the game at a deep level. His knowledge and leadership was a reason that the team went to the World Series in 2015.

Now, the team is far from a World Series appearance as they sit in last place in the National League East. This is something that nobody could have envisioned in Spring Training.

On Thursday, the organization announced some front-office changes. This included firing the director of player development, Kevin Howard, the director of pro player evaluation, Jeff Lebow, and the director of performance, Jim Cavallini.

Owner Steve Cohen could not go into the offseason in good faith without making some changes, and more could be on the horizon. He desperately wants the Mets to return to relevancy and will stop at nothing to make that happen.