Photo by Ed Delany/MMO
As many Americans enjoyed a day off on Monday for Presidents’ Day, the New York Mets had their first full-squad workout of 2020 spring training. Before the workout commenced, an energized Luis Rojas addressed his team.
“Being there with the entire squad — that was a pretty special moment,” Rojas said according to Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. “We talked about communication, trust and accountability, which we always bring up as our values. We talked about preparation and our talent and how we’re always going to motivate each other in spring training and throughout the season and on top of that, have fun.”
Rojas, who Wilson Ramos described as quiet while serving in his position as quality control coach last year, was noticeably different from the 32-year-old catcher’s perspective on Monday.
“He is talking like he’s the manager, like he commands everybody here, so I like that,” Ramos said according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. “Last year he was quiet, but I like the new Luis.”
Brandon Nimmo also applauded the first-year manager’s address to the team.
“I wouldn’t say that the content was totally different [from what managers usually say at this time of the year], but it felt different and Luis was delivering it really well and he’s obviously very excited about this,” Nimmo said according to Tim Healey of Newsday. “It felt different this year, maybe because a lot of the guys do feel really confident about what we have here in this clubhouse. I think the guys have bought in as well and understand we do have a chance.”
While confidence is always high for teams during spring training, Rojas’ comments and delivery were addressed to a team that finished 2019 with a 46-26 second-half record. In addition to adding Dellin Betances to the bullpen, the Mets’ relief corps is also projected to be much better overall with anticipated bounce-back seasons from Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia.
Although the players may not have expected such a fired-up managerial version of their quiet 2019 quality control coach to address them ahead of their first full-squad workout, the talent currently on the team gives reason for excitement.
“[Rojas] made a couple comments that a lot of managers probably wouldn’t say right away,” said Dominic Smith according to Healey of Newsday. “He said we’re in ‘win-now’ mode and we have the pieces to do it.”
Time will tell how well the 2020 New York Mets will fare, but Luis Rojas won’t let the unknown get in the way of his hopes and expectations for the season.
