Mets' Francisco Lindor addresses job security of Buck Showalter

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor backed manager Buck Showalter to help right the ship despite the club's woes throughout the first half of the 2023 MLB season. 

"Buck is one of the best managers in the league," Lindor said while speaking with reporters on Tuesday, per Andy Martino of SNY. "One hundred percent" 

Showalter earned National League Manager of the Year honors after he guided the 2022 Mets to 101 regular-season victories and was expected to lead baseball's most expensive squad to more than just a playoff berth this year. His fourth-place Mets began Wednesday trailing the first-place Atlanta Braves by 16 games in the NL East standings and were eight-and-a-half games back in the race for a wild-card spot at that time, but general manager Billy Eppler nevertheless gave Showalter a public vote of confidence on Tuesday. 

Lindor insisted Showalter hasn't lost the clubhouse regardless of outside opinions on the matter. 

"He is still in the front," Lindor added about Showalter. "He is still holding on to the clubhouse. I told him last year, if he posts up, I’ll post up. And he had posted up every day." 

Big-spending Mets owner Steve Cohen previously said he is "not going to blow up" and make drastic in-season changes, but that was before his club held a woeful 36-43 record on June 28. Cohen is expected to meet with media members on Wednesday, and it sounds like Lindor wants his owner to endorse who he called "a special manager" and somebody who "has done everything he can in his power to push us to be better and hold us accountable" throughout one of the most disappointing half-seasons in franchise history. 

"We are professionals," Lindor continued. "Mental mistakes are going to happen. It has nothing to do with the manager. It’s us. The manager can go out there and put a great lineup. The front office can go out there and put a great lineup. If we don’t hit, or if we don’t run the bases the right way, it’s tough to win." 

The Mets split the first two games of a midweek home series against the Milwaukee Brewers (41-38) and again host Milwaukee on Wednesday evening. First pitch for that contest is scheduled for after Cohen's media event, and one wonders if he will either inspire or deflate the roster.