WASHINGTON — Jerry Manuel still walks through the Mets’ clubhouse with a smile and his head high, confident that ownership will honor its word by bringing him back as manager next year.
But that doesn’t make this miserable, injury-filled season any easier to swallow for Manuel after the last-place Nationals handed the Mets their 90th loss of the season here last night with a 2-1 decision at Nationals Park.
Manuel, 55, has been part of some awful seasons in nearly two decades as a professional manager or coach, but he says 2009 will go down as by far the toughest in his book.
“I’ve never experienced a year like this,” he said yesterday.
What makes this season tougher than any other to swallow is the legitimate playoff aspirations that accompanied this Mets team coming out of spring training.
With a Cy Young candidate in Johan Santana, a dramatically improved bullpen and All-Stars in center field and throughout the infield, the Mets were labeled the NL’s World Series team on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Instead, they will limp to the finish with at least 90 losses for the first time since the final dark days of Art Howe’s hapless regime in 2004.
As the losses have piled up, critics have taken shots at Manuel’s sometimes dubious lineups, in-game decisions and bullpen management, but he faults a disabled list that bulged with more than 20 players — most notably Jose Reyes.
Collectively, the Mets had players spend more than 1,000 days on the disabled list this season, by far the most in the majors.
“This is tough, my toughest season, no question,” Manuel said. “Just simply because of that — there was some expectations obviously we didn’t reach. There was some anticipation of people coming back [from injury] that never happened.
“And as people didn’t come back, you lost those that were the second line of the fight, then you lost that, then none of those from the first line made it back.”
Players say they respect Manuel’s congenial, player-friendly style, and he has no shortage of defenders in the clubhouse.
Fred Wilpon also went on record to The Post last month guaranteeing that GM Omar Minaya would be back in 2010, and Minaya in turn promised that Manuel would get a second full season as manager.
Manuel knows he will be entering a win-or-else situation.
“It’ll be important for us to hit the ground running [in 2010] playing good baseball and giving a feeling that there is a chance of a championship,” he said. “That has to be established early. I understand that.”
*
Nelson Figueroa was a hard-luck loser once again last night, falling to 2-8 despite giving up just two runs in six innings to the worst team in baseball.
A solo homer by Mike Morse off Figueroa in the sixth proved to be the difference as the Mets allowed Washington left-hander Ross Detwiler (1-6) his first career win.
*
The Mets are considering alterations to their home uniforms in 2010, according to team officials.
The club appears likely to switch to a cream-colored outfit at Citi Field instead of basic white. The Mets also mulled ditching their pinstripes but are leaning against it.
Club spokesman Jay Horwitz would not be specific except to say the Mets “are going to do something” with their home uniforms next season.