NL WILD CARD SERIES: PADRES VS METS

October 9, 2022

Chris Bassitt

Buck Showalter

Citi Field

New York Mets

Postgame Press Conference

San Diego - 6, New York - 0

Q. Chris, I know it's obviously pretty raw, but just what are the emotions after such a promising season to have it end the way that it did?

CHRIS BASSITT: It's tough. We talked very, very quickly, but just the group that we had, how close we were, to fall short, it's tough.

Q. As you evaluate your last two starts, what do you think was the difference for you?

CHRIS BASSITT: I'd say more so just beating myself. Looking back at the Atlanta start, I'm not sure how many runs they scored on walks, and then tonight I know they scored two guys on walks. So not too proud of that, but I'm proud of the group.

Q. Chris, you guys won 101 games this year, you led the division most of the way. How stunning is it to be sitting here right now and kind of knowing you're going home for the winter?

CHRIS BASSITT: No matter where you lose it's stunning. I've lost in this one. I've lost in the next round. It don't matter what round you lose in. It just sucks.

I would say almost every playoff team, they have a really special group and you don't want to leave. Yeah, everyone that loses from here on out is stunned, and everyone's just -- it's a terrible, terrible feeling.

But I'm beyond grateful and beyond proud to be a Met. That's all I can really say.

Q. It looked like Padres hitters were really sort of taking their time, stepping out of the box a little bit. Did they like maybe get you out of rhythm at all?

CHRIS BASSITT: No, it's not that. I don't have any problem with that. That had literally no correlation to the end result, so no.

Q. Buck, a very similar question to what we were just talking to Chris about, but for you, what is the feeling, what is the emotion like right now having the season end the way that it did?

BUCK SHOWALTER: It's raw. This sport is so gratifying and so many great things happen. It's just cruel too at times like this. I feel for the players. They put so much into it and were such a special group.

I told them it's not always fair. I don't think I've ever had such a blend of good people and good players, and it really creates a bond that you hate to see them not get -- you know, everybody thinks they deserve it this time of year. I've been there with them every step of the way and seeing what they put into it and how much they cared.

They're a very easy group to pull for -- as a fan, as a coach, as a manager, as a teammate, and I just feel for them it's not something that's sharp either. It's like a dull -- it's not going to go away, but in a lot of ways, you hope it's a stepping stone that drives you in the off-season. I know it will be in Billy, and I know the players. Hopefully we can gain something from the pain. It's one of those things that you can't do anything but say it was self-inflicted. It's not like -- you seek your level, and we're not going to be able to continue to play.

I think I feel for the players and their families and the fans that were so supportive. I think that's what I take. The biggest disappointment I take is for the players and the fans and the organization. There's so many people that give so much to it trying to get to the last step, and it's so difficult.

But like I said, everyone feels that way this time of year, the ten teams playing. It's such a roll of the dice in October, but we just didn't do much with the bats tonight.

Got to give them a lot of credit. They really pitched well for the whole series for the most part. They've got a lot of quality arms, and they just keep coming at you. They kind of got it going this time of year.

And I've known Bob for a long time, always pull for his teams because I know how he goes about it. If you had to be eliminated, it's well run.

Q. To your point about the offense, just one hit tonight, two base runners. For much of the season, you guys were really consistent offensively, and it seems like more nights than normal over the last few weeks, month, that hasn't quite been the case. What do you think changed down the stretch?

BUCK SHOWALTER: I think last night was indicative of a game where we got into the flow of what we were able to do well because a pitcher allowed us to.

The first night and tonight, they didn't allow us to get into the things we're really good at.

I'm not going to -- we faced a lot of good pitching here the last month, but we did early in the season too. It seemed like we just couldn't get to the things that we do well as often.

I think Starling, I'm so proud of him posting up. That last at-bat almost took him out. But I think that's indicative of these guys, how much they care for each other trying to be there. I wish we could have gotten -- I know he was in some discomfort. The guy's going out there playing with what amounts to a broken finger trying to get through it.

He did for a while, but not once did he have an excuse. Lindor basically hit a line drive off his kneecap.

But, you know, San Diego's probably got some people like that too. It is what it is. It's a sport that challenges you in those areas.

Q. Buck, in your experience when a season ends in disappointment like this, is there something to the idea that a team can learn from it, come back hungry, build on it, or is every year different, different set of players, different culture?

BUCK SHOWALTER: Yes and no to all that. Not right now. You don't feel that right now because just the sting of just, you know, it's over. This routine and pattern you've been in for so long, when you wake up tomorrow, it's not going to be there.

Sure, some of the best development of players and people and whatever happens about three weeks after this is over when you finally get a moment where you're able to see things more clearly because you're so close to it, the everyday interaction. There's so many things that the team and the organization have gotten ahead of and have been proactive instead of reactive and reflected in the season.

Right now is not -- they won't feel that, but down the road, I'm hoping that is the case, especially with some of the younger players. In today's world, sports world, things change so much. That's why when you get a good group like this together, you want to try to be the last team standing because you know how hard it is to get through basically what amounts to eight or nine months of seven days a week of trying to get there.

So it's cruel. It really is.

Q. What are some of the things about the culture that you and the players and Billy started to build this year that you want to hold onto going forward?

BUCK SHOWALTER: It's about the players. It's about the people. You're trying -- from the get go, and Billy and I were talking and Steve, we're trying to do things that fans can trust. Don't talk about it. Do it. There's been enough lip service.

Not here necessarily, just in general. Fans don't want -- you know, show me. Play better. I kept hoping that we were going to find our footing tonight and start doing some things that we've been good at, but they kept us from doing it. Obviously they pitched real well.

Q. Buck, you mentioned that everyone kind of feels they deserve it and want to be the last team standing, but I'm wondering, between your combination of age, big guys looming free agents, and guys having such excellent years that might be hard to repeat, do you feel like you squandered something you might not be able to grab again?

BUCK SHOWALTER: That's reality. Reality will show you it's hard -- you think, oh, I just do this and sign this. No, there's a lot more to it.

I know how good of ownership we have. I know how good of leadership we have in the baseball department. I know the core players that care a lot. But it's like I just told them, now becomes you've got to do what's best for your families. You've got to do what's best -- you know, it becomes -- the business part of it kind of gets in there where the players are concerned and rightfully so.

You don't know. You don't know. But I do know that the people that are evaluating what we need and can do and can't do, it gives me a lot of confidence. I know that I look back at the players that we brought in here, and I go out of this saying, boy, I'm glad they're signed to next year.

So that tells you the confidence I have in the decisions we'll be making about players because the Mets are a very precious thing to a lot of people. We need to continue down the path of evaluating not only good players but good people that you can count on.

Q. The other thing is you spent the season kind of building up kind of credentials, kind of love with your fan base. Do you think you lost something significant last weekend in Atlanta and this weekend here that you had built all year with your fan base?

BUCK SHOWALTER: Those are personal emotions. When you've got something people care about as much as they do their team, the Mets. That frustration, people express it in different ways.

It's a very sincere group. They're trying to do as good as they could do. There's a reason why the Braves were World Champions last year and have a chance this year. We've been real good against them. They beat us one more time than we did.

I think I told our players, I don't want them going around apologizing for winning 101, 102 games, but all that does is give you a chance to do what we were able to do the last three games. That's about all you get back for it.

That's frustrating, and it hurts, but I hurt for our players and our fans more than anything else, and the whole organization because I know how much everybody put into it from the groundskeeper in St. Lucie to people all the way through it. It plays off of how we do.

It's a great responsibility. Our players took on that responsibility. A lot of people run from it. They didn't.

Q. Buck, with Musgrove, what did you see from him that caused you to ask the umpires for a check?

BUCK SHOWALTER: We have privy to a lot of things that go in that direction, obviously. I love him as a pitcher, always have. That's the only thing I kind of -- I feel kind of bad about it, but it won't cast anything. He's too good a pitcher, and they're too good -- without getting into a lot of things, the spin rates and different things that I'm sure you're all aware of when you see something that jumps out at you -- I get a lot of information in the dugout that -- we certainly weren't having much luck the way it was going, that's for sure.

I'm charged with doing what's best for the New York Mets. If it makes me look however it makes me look or whatever, I'm going to do it every time and live with the consequences. I'm not here to not hurt somebody's feelings. I'm going to do what's best for our players and the New York Mets. I felt like that was best for us right now.

There's some pretty obvious reasons why it was necessary.

Q. Buck, there certainly were signs of this going back like a month, wasn't there? If you had won a game here or there from the Cubs, Miami, Washington, you wouldn't have even been in this situation where you lost out in Atlanta. You would have been onto the NLDS. So when you do the autopsy of the whole season and you put it all together on how this came about, I know it's early, but what do you think you'll be pointing to when you look at it all?

BUCK SHOWALTER: You'll certainly look at those things because we're very hard on ourselves, but I'll also think about the 10 or 15 games that we shouldn't have won. We're down six or seven runs in the last inning, but nobody remembers those, all those games that you won that people don't normally win.

People will dwell on this one here and this one here. I never got into saying somebody should beat somebody on this level. That's just not -- it may look like that on paper, but I dwell more on all the games that we won that people said we shouldn't have, but I know that's not fashionable.