Buck is back where he belongs with new-look Mets

So this is how it starts for Buck Showalter as he returns to managing and returns to New York with the Mets: Jacob deGrom is hurt again, his shoulder this time, and Max Scherzer might not be able to take deGrom’s start in Washington on Thursday because of a barking hamstring, though he might be able to go on Friday.

And here is what Showalter told his coaches after they all got the news about deGrom:

“It’s on.”

Somebody in the room asked, “It’s _on_?”

“Yes,” Showalter said. “It is on. This is what we’re here for. This is what we were all hired to do. This is what building a culture is all about. Did things just get scrambled? Yeah, they did. This is baseball. Things are always going to get scrambled somewhere along the way, and more than once. It’s our job to put things back in place.”

On Sunday morning, Showalter elaborated.

“This is one of the things you miss,” he said. “The problem solving. In the end, our business always comes back to what-ifs. 'What if this happens, what do we do as a team and as an organization? What if that happens? What do we do if something happens today that we didn’t expect, that nobody could have seen coming?' Because something could happen today. You know why? It’s sports. And if something does happen, where are we going?”

He paused and said, “It’s like I told our guys: 'This is exactly why we’re here.' So, yeah, let’s get it on. If I have to find another Opening Day pitcher, so be it. It’s the first one out of 162.”

This was on the same weekend when Buck Showalter, who this week manages his first regular-season game since he left the Orioles after the 2018 season, said this to the media:

“The sky isn’t falling. It’s just raining.”

He still likes his team, and his team’s chances, very much, even if he might not essentially be able to bring in Scherzer to relieve deGrom the way he did in that spring game in Port St. Lucie against the Cardinals the Sunday before last. He loves the way he has seen it come together in this short Spring Training, particularly how much Scherzer, the new guy, the $130 million man, has gone out of his way to promote team unity.

Then Buck was talking about some of the other new guys that his general manager, Billy Eppler, acquired before Eppler had even made a rare deal Mets-Yankees trade with old boss Brian Cashman, for left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez.

“Our fans are going to love Chris Bassitt,” Showalter said of the right-handed starter who pitched for the A’s last season. “They’re going to love [new third baseman] Eduardo Escobar, and Starling Marte. And Mark Canha? Total pro.”

No team has undergone more change since the end of last season and Opening Day on Thursday than the Mets have. With Showalter, owner Steve Cohen and Eppler might have made an addition as important as Max Scherzer, and Scherzer is one of the great right-handed starters of his time. You add them to Bassitt and Escobar and Marte and Canha and know this:

Nobody is going to be able to call them the "Same Old Mets," not this time around. This must even feel like a do-over for the new owner, Cohen, despite the fact that Cohen officially took over the team 16 months ago. When Cohen looks out at his starting nine in Washington, he will see four new position players out of the eight Showalter will likely field against the Nationals..

Marte played with the Marlins and A’s last season. He hit .305 in 64 games for the Marlins, then .316 in 56 games for the A’s. Had 145 hits in 120 games. Scored 89 runs. And he's still something to see once he gets to first base. Escobar hit 28 home runs in a season split between the D-backs and Brewers.

Bassitt? He was 12-4 with a 3.06 ERA and an All-Star before getting hit in the face by a Brian Goodwin line drive in the middle of August. Bassitt came back to pitch again in September. Maybe Bassitt, then, is perfect for Showalter’s Mets, and the message he has imparted to them after the news of deGrom’s injury, because Chris Bassitt has already shown, and quite dramatically, how you come back after you get hit."

On Sunday, I asked Showalter, who I’ve known since he was a coach with the Yankees 30 years ago, if there has been any part of being back on the field and in the dugout that he hasn’t liked.

“Not one,” he said. “The truth is, I missed all of it.”

Then he paused again and said, “Let’s go.”