The New York Mets finally caught a break on Friday night. They rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3. But even in a victory, the Mets still found a way to look frustrated, and it was a rough night, especially for Francisco Alvaraez.

He made an error in the defense and contributed nothing at the batter’s box. Still, former Mets third baseman Todd Zeile called out Alvarez for a reason that might look funny but portrays the sad state of affairs of the team.

“A fastball at the bottom zone, you see that big, big swing, and he’s a guy that takes an aggressive swing. But when he’s locked in, he waits a little. You see him trying to break that over his knee, that’s not going to feel too good. Can’t even break the bat correctly right now,” Zeile said from the Mets broadcasting booth.

Zeile was at the broadcasting booth on Friday as the Mets took on the Angels in the series opener. In the top of the fourth inning, catcher Francisco Alvarez stepped to the plate with the Mets trailing 3-0. Facing Angels rookie Walbert Ureña, Alvarez took a wild, aggressive swing at a low fastball for strike three.

Furious with himself, he tried to pull off a Rafael Devers-like stunt as he left the batter’s box. He tried to snap the bat in half over his thigh, but botched the act. Zeile immediately roasted the 24-year-old catcher from the booth, as the maple wood bat resisted the Mets catcher’s strength. “Not going to feel too good,” Zeile said, referring to how it might be painful as the bat refused to get snapped.

Alvarez’s failed act not only proved painful for Alvarez, but it also showed the current state of the Mets. Despite the win, the Mets are still 11-21 and standing last in the division. Starters still proved vulnerable in the first three innings as the Angels scored three runs there. Defensive errors were still there. In the third, Alvarez’s poor throw to the third helped Zach Neto to complete a run. And last but not least, manager Carlos Mendoza’s optimistic statement.

“We haven’t been able to win games like that when you get down 3-0, and the feeling is like, ‘All right,'” Mendoza said after the game. So, other than Ronny Mauricio’s late homer that won the game, very few things hinted at any turnaround.

The Mets are unlikely to make any radical move

The Red Sox fired Alex Cora after failing to offer a better show. The Mets are no different as they stand last with an 80 wRC+, meaning they’re 20 percent worse than the league average. This did make many think if Carlos Mendoza was next. However, Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns shut down those rumors this week, giving Mendoza a massive vote of confidence.

“We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change,” Stearns said.

So, despite all the chaos around, the Mets front office is still betting on their manager. Yes, indeed, Mendoza is not at all a failed project for the team. He has led the Mets to back-to-back winning seasons, despite the team missing the playoffs during the 2025 season. In his first year as the Mets manager, Mendoza led the team all the way to the NLCS.

The team has been performing worse since last year. However, Mendoza’s got his hands tied because the front office built a top-heavy roster, and the stars are simply not performing. With names like Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, and Jorge Polanco batting a sub-.250, the manager could do nothing.

So, the fans waiting to see some radical moves from the front office will be disappointed for now. The roster will remain intact, and hopefully, their winning momentum will come back at the earliest.