Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

There was Mets royalty at spring training today with all-time great Mike Piazza in camp as a guest instructor for the team.

As is tradition, the Mets have a number of guest instructors with them throughout spring training each year, and today saw the Hall of Fame catcher working alongside manager Buck Showalter.

After lending his expertise and using his wealth of experience to help today’s Mets, Piazza sat down with the media scrum to give his views on a number of Mets-related topics as spring training ramps up…

Piazza On Francisco Lindor

After an underwhelming debut year in Queens, slashing .230/.412/.734 with 20 homers and 63 RBI, there is a lot of pressure on Francisco Lindor heading into Year 2.

But, having mastered the art of excelling in New York while balancing lofty expectations, Piazza is confident that Lindor will deliver in a Mets uniform.

“He obviously takes care of himself and the key to him is going to be over the life of his career,” Piazza said. “I expect him for years to be productive here, he needs to catch the balls he’s supposed to, he needs to drive in the runs he’s supposed to and you don’t have to be superman – you just have to do what you’re supposed to do.

“For a team to win, everyone has to have a good year together. Not one person is going to carry a team – the greatest teams are always going to have everyone producing and doing their job.

“The key for him is to not feel like he has to do everything everyday and be everything to everybody. Just do what he’s supposed to do and let everyone else do their jobs as well.”

Piazza On James McCann

Catcher is obviously a position Piazza knows a thing or two about, so he was well placed to offer his views on the guy currently behind the plate for the Mets.

“He’s a super kid,” Piazza said of McCann. “He works hard, he’s a big guy and he’s committed to being the lynchpin of the staff because that was something I myself took a lot of responsibility in and I knew how important that was.

“You are catching two stud aces like those guys (Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer), and it is a big responsibility. The bullpen as well because you don’t have to worry about deGrom, you don’t have to worry about Scherzer, these guys know what to do, you just have to be there and put the right fingers down.

“But, navigating a team through the ups and downs of a year and the bullpen, the different guys that come in and out is a huge responsibility. I have a lot of confidence in him and if he can drive a few balls and drive in the runs you are supposed to, but his biggest job is to run the staff.”

Piazza On High Expectations

After significantly upgrading their roster during the offseason – adding the likes of Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Starling Marte and others – the Mets are expected to compete in 2022.

And compete big.

High expectations obviously comes with a lot of responsibility but, having experienced similar during his playing days with the Mets, Piazza is perhaps the perfect person to offer some advice to this year’s Mets team on handling big expectations in The Big Apple.

“There’s a lot of work ahead and I know everyone knows that,” Piazza said. “The only way to do that is the gauntlet of the season. Stay healthy, that’s the first key, and just break it down to basics too. In this day and age there’s a ton of data, there’s a ton of statistics, but it is still the same game we played.

“You’ve got to make the right pitches, you’ve got to catch the ball, you need timely hitting and you have to stay healthy.

“There’s no secret formula. I mean, it is just a question of guys coming together, guys supporting each other, staying healthy, picking each other up, playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not for the name on the back as Tommy Lasorda said many times.

“Those qualities, those values never get old so even in a market like New York and the expectations that are here, I told these guys that we came in with high expectations and we came close in 2000, but we had high expectations and we delivered. We got to the final step, we didn’t take it all the way home but, generally, you have to want those expectations.

“You have to thrive on the energy and the excitement and if you don’t expect to win, then you probably should be doing something else.”

Piazza On Buck Showalter

Piazza spent a lot of time with the new Mets manager today, and he was impressed with the leadership already on display in camp.

“Just being here a short time, I’ve seen that the attitude is good, and it was great talking to Buck today,” Piazza said. “I was in the meetings and the interaction is good and the energy is good.

“Those other teams that don’t have high expectations, they play like they have nothing to lose and that’s how you have to play. But you also have to put it on your shoulders and there has to be leadership. Leadership is not always vocal leadership, giving Knute Rockne speeches, but playing hard and leading by example.

“It is just a question of everyone coming into their own and not being afraid to step up when you’re struggling. It helps a lot (having a manager like Showalter) because again, it comes down to you still have to play the game.”