New York Mets: Terry Collins ready to embrace expectations

The New York Mets have high expectations for the 2016 season, and their manager, Terry Collins, wants them to embrace them.

It was a bit of a surprise to see the Mets in the World Series last season, as their young pitching staff hit the ground running, and a few nice moves at the trade deadline gave them enough offensive firepower to win the National League Championship.

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Being the National League Champions is going to put a target on their back, and Terry Collins wants them to be prepared for that.

“We certainly realize that there’s gonna be a lot of people after us,” Collins said to Maria Guardado of NJ.com. “We get that, and I’m of the mind to embrace it as opposed to ignoring it. You’re naive if you think for one second it’s not going to be in your face every day. I think we’ve got to embrace it.”

While winning the National League Championship is a great accomplishment, the Mets are hungry for more in 2016 and are using the loss in the World Series as motivation.

“I think that the motivation that we went through last year with losing the World Series, you don’t need any more motivation than that,” captain David Wright said to Guardado. “You now understand how hard it is to get to that point and the work that goes in. I think that starts here and that’s what Terry’s getting through to us. That’s what we kind of understand now.”

The Mets did a lot of things right last season, and keeping the same continuity that they had last season with some new pieces is important for Collins in Spring Training.

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“They don’t have to play cards or whatever we might do as a unit, but they gotta be there and get to know each other and understand that on the field, we’ve got to root for each other,” Collins said to Guardado. “That was the big thing I saw last year, with all the movement of all the pieces that were put into places — the one thing I saw were guys cheering for each other, and I thought that was really key.”

The Mets have gotten the message from their manager, as Matt Harvey spoke highly of Collins’ ability to motivate the team.

“He’s still sparky and ready to go,” Harvey said to Guardado. “He’s got a lot of confidence and that means a lot to us. Really motivates us to go back and do what we do and really get ready and make sure that we put ourselves in the best position to get where we want to be.”

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2016 will be a challenge for the Mets as teams won’t be taking them lightly anymore, as they have proven to be a real threat to win the World Series this season. Performing with the pressure on, especially in New York can be a difficult thing, and Collins’ ability to keep the Mets on their toes may be one of the most important things the team will need in 2016.

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