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PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets came to spring training with the usual high hopes of spring. They will head back north in a few days much tougher individuals than when they arrived.
Call this the Mets’ version of the Silver Linings Playbook.
When I asked Terry Collins yesterday what he likes best about his team with the season just around the corner, the manager shot back: “They don’t feel sorry for themselves, that’s what I think is best about them. They don’t look over their shoulders and see David [Wright] sitting on the sidelines or [Daniel Murphy] sitting on the sidelines, they are getting themselves ready to play.’’
Collins was just getting warmed up.
“They haven’t dropped their heads and said, ‘Woe is us. Our big players aren’t there.’ We’ve had some pitching guys step up, when they knew Johan [Santana] wasn’t going to make it. They’ve all got themselves prepared as we went day to day. They didn’t worry about who wasn’t here.
“It has to make them stronger,’’ Collins said of the many spring setbacks that include injuries to Wright and Murphy, and Santana simply not able to throw the baseball. “Because next week nobody cares. When the real lights come on nobody cares about spring training, what your record was, what you hit, how you pitched. Our guys are prepared.
“We’ve seen some good things and we’ve seen some things that have taken a toll on us, but I think the guys that go north are going to be ready to play.’’
This is Mets against the world.
These Mets, of course, had better be ready because there is no help coming over the hill. The Yankees run into major injuries and the next thing you know, they’re dropping $14 million on trying to salvage Vernon Wells’ career. The move may not work, but the Yankees are throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
That is not happening here. This is it as far as talent coming through the Mets’ clubhouse door. And make no mistake: It is going to be a supreme challenge.
“It’s going to be a long year for the Mets,’’ a scout who has followed the team all spring told The Post last night. “I like Matt Harvey and I like Jon Niese, but the other guys in the rotation are all the same kind of guys. They don’t have enough offense and they will have trouble catching the ball.’’
Other than that, the Mets are good to go in 2013. Several scouts I checked in with yesterday all made similar comments.
None of that bodes well for the season. That means the Mets are going to have to rise above their physical limitations to become better players than they are by being mentally tougher than the opponent and coming together as a team.
So, in that respect, this spring training was a tremendous success for Collins and the Mets because they have become mentally tougher.
The players can see the handwriting on the wall. They see that management is shooting for 2014 and the future and that does help foster the “Us against the world’’ attitude.
“Listen,’’ one Met told me, “we know what’s going on but we’re going to be OK and we’re going to battle. I think our bullpen has improved and that is one of the biggest things we’ve got going for us.’’
The Mets are going to have to find a way to manufacture runs. They strike out way too much as a team without the home run advantage that other strikeout teams possess. This spring the Mets have struck out 235 times and have collected 250 hits. Opponents have struck out 183 times while gathering 273 hits. Those 250 hits are tied for next to last this spring with the Yankees, by the way, for the least amount of hits in the majors. The Brewers are dead last with 238 hits. The Mets struck out a franchise record 1250 times last season.
Many woes must be overcome.