Aaron Boone on adversity Carlos Mendoza has faced: 'He's handled himself really well'
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, left, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Yankees and the Mets arrived at the Stadium Tuesday for the second phase of the 2024 Subway Series in very different places than when they met at Citi Field for the first phase almost a month ago.
The Yankees had only begun to scuffle from their high-water mark of 28 games over .500 on June 14. And the Mets had already begun their impressive ascent from the low point of 11 games under .500 on June 2 to postseason contention.
Each team’s momentum continued in those two games with the Mets taking both. Beginning with those two wins, the Mets had gone 14-9 entering play Tuesday while the Yankees had gone 8-14.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Mets first-year manager Carlos Mendoza go back a long way. Mendoza was Boone’s bench coach for four seasons before the Mets hired him this past offseason. And while the two were about lock horns again, Boone took a moment to remark about how his former right-hand man had helped steer the Mets back.
“I think he's handled himself really well and obviously, that’s a presence for them over there – not surprising to me,” Boone said.
“He's been through a lot already in the first few months with some of the struggles and some of the things you’ve just got to deal with on and off the field,” Boone added. “I feel like he's – just looking from afar – handled everything really well. Again, not surprising.”
Mendoza was looking at another turn of events to navigate even before game time. Righthanded starter Christian Scott was put on the 15-day injured list with what the team said was a UCL sprain in his right elbow. And Mendoza said the team was still uncertain about the extent of the injury or what it would mean for his starting rotation.
At least there was the salve of the return of righthander Kodai Senga to the rotation from a shoulder injury. Expected to be the team’s ace this season, he is expected to pitch Friday against Atlanta at Citi Field.
Mendoza has seen the Mets through a litany of events thus far, from losing Senga before Opening Day, to the club’s early-season underperforming to closer Edwin Diaz getting suspended for 10 games after being deemed to have an illegal sticky substance on his hands in a game. Mendoza was prepared for this from his six seasons as an instructor and member of the field staff with the Yankees.
When asked if his time with the Yankees informed him about how to handle these sort of in-season issues, he replied “100%.”
“I learned a lot when I was (here) with the Yankees,” Mendoza continued. “There was always (times), when you're playing 162, you're going to face adversity. And watching not only Aaron but (how) the players and coaches handled it here, helped me try and navigate our situation earlier this year.”
Mendoza, however, seemed almost uncomfortable discussing his role in the Mets’ turnaround.
“I’m going to give credit to the players: they were the ones that continued to prepare and continued to work,” Mendoza said. “And I have to give credit to the coaching staff. I (have) a very experienced coaching staff that helped me kind of get through those moments as well.
“I've been here for many years and (it) helped me. But you know, I'll give credit to the people . . . players and the coaches. When he was hard, everybody stayed positive, everybody stayed consistent and we just kept working.”
It’s not unexpected that Mendoza would deflect the attention, based on how Boone spoke of him.
“He and I have gotten to be so close over the years,” Boone said. “I just know how good of a baseball person he is – how good of a person he is.”
Coming back to the Stadium as part of the visiting team was a first for Mendoza. He said, “It was definitely a different feeling, but it was also good to see some familiar faces” on the grounds crew and in stadium operations.
Boone thought it could be the first of many visits like this, if his first months on the job with the Mets is an indicator.
“I expect him to do this for a long time – as long as he wants to,” Boone said. “He's a really good baseball man.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
