New Mets manager Mickey Callaway held a Spring Training press conference in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday and addressed several key points, many of which were regarding the state of the pitchers.

“If we don’t do something special with this group, then it’s on me,” he said, showing how confident he is in the team.

Here are five things we learned from the skipper:

He’s excited about his pitchers

Callaway raved about his starting pitchers and is excited to see what they are going to do this year.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “The amount of very good arms with quality stuff that we have here in this Mets organization? I promise you nobody else has that.”

He was also impressed by Matt Harvey and Steven Matz, who have been throwing bullpen sessions and will start facing live minor league batters in the next few days.

“They all look really good in the pen,” he said. “They’re throwing the ball where they want to. If anything, we’ve had to hold them back. I’m kind of blown away.”

Callaway, 42, also said he wants his pitchers to throw more breaking balls and mentioned that studies show it’s not as bad for the arm as once thought. He will be meeting with all his pitchers tomorrow in the weight room.

Bullpen

Callaway again reinforced the idea that he is not going to be naming a definitive closer to begin the season.

“For me to designate a pitcher right now for the ninth inning without knowing which hitters are coming up seems silly to me,” he said.

After informing Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos and Jerry Blevins of his intentions, they responded:  “We do not care when we pitch, we just want to win a game.”

He also made it sound as though the team will begin the season with a seven-man bullpen but could move to an eight-man crew later on.

Callaway also added that there are 8-10 options for starting pitchers right now, which is making the decision hard on him. One has to imagine at least one or two of them will be shifted to the bullpen at some point this year.

David Wright

Despite David Wright being sidelined, Callaway is going to rely on his veteran presence in the locker room and also establishing a clubhouse culture.

However, he won’t be interfering with Wright’s rehab program, which will fall under the jurisdiction of team doctors.

The Mets will have a strong group of veterans to help guide this team in the right direction, including Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier as well.

 Offense 

Callaway said one of his biggest predicaments is going to be finding a leadoff hitter for this team.

He is confident that his coaching skill set will help translate to both the pitchers and hitters alike.

“I think my pitching background is going to help the hitters just as much as the pitchers,” he said.

The Future

Callaway is excited for what this team is going to accomplish in 2018.

“I have now spent some time with our coaching staff. I’ve spent time with our players. It is very evident that we are prepared in every way to go out there and do something special. If we do not do things, it’s gonna be on me.”

“They look to their left, and they look to their right and they know they can contend. We have the players that can do it. The front office has gotten us the players, the coaching staff is the best coaching staff in the big leagues.”

Reliever Anthony Swarzak discusses why he believes Mickey Callaway is going to get the most out of all his players.