Why is Carlos Mendoza best suited to lead Mets? Hall of Famer Darryl Strawberry answers

New York Mets legend Daryl Strawberry believes Carlos Mendoza is the best fit for the top coaching job in Queens. Strawberry gave the 45-year-old Mendoza his full vote of confidence.

Interestingly, both Strawberry and Mendoza worked with the Yankees and Mets. Strawberry started his career with the Mets and closed it out with the Yankees. On the other hand, Mendoza spent years as a coach for the Bronx squad before being hired as the skipper in Queens.

On the "Amazin' Conversations" podcast hosted by Jay Horwitz, Strawberry explained why Mendoza was capable of leading the Mets.

"I think because he understands baseball and he understands people," said Strawberry. (7:53) "His relationship with people is real ... He's not a pretender. He has a great personality and great understanding. He knows how to get the best out of [the players]. He's great with the media and doesn't put the pressure on his players."

Strawberry reiterated Mendoza's empathy for players and the understanding of when to lay off or turn on the switch when it comes to motivating them. So far, Mendoza's tactics have paid dividends as his squad currently sits atop the NL East and owns the best record across the majors at 21-10.

Mets' comeback falls short against D'backs

The New York Mets incurred just their second defeat in 15 games at home this season against the D'backs on Wednesday. As Mendoza deployed a pitching committee to navigate the game, his relievers were rocked late as the Mets were defeated with a 4-3 score.

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Mark Vientos started the scoring in the third inning with a solo bomb for his fourth home run of the season. No more runs were scored until the seventh when Geraldo Pedromo, who was inserted in the game to pinch hit, drove in Lourdes Gurriel and Jorge Barrosa for the first D'backs score of the contest.

Barrosa then padded the Arizona lead in the ninth with his sacrifice fly that scored Gabriel Moreno. Not being content with his scoring output in the seventh, Pedromo once again drove in a run in the ninth to push the D'backs' lead to three.

The Mets tried to ignite a comeback in the final frame via Tyrone Taylor's solo shot and Jesse Winker's RBI but the effort proved futile as Arizona hung on for the victory.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago