Mets rookie first baseman Pete Alonso voiced his support for manager Mickey Callaway after hitting a historic home run in Monday's 5-3 win over the Nationals.
"He's a great leader and all of us love playing for him," Alonso said. "He's a great manager. It would be devastating if his job was in jeopardy or he wasn't the skipper anymore. I think he deserves to be our manager. He's a great leader and we all love playing for him."
Amid the Mets' five-game losing streak that dropped them to 20-25, including a sweep at the hands of the last-place Marlins, GM Brodie Van Wagenen said earlier Monday how he envisions Callaway being the manager for the "foreseeable future."
Though Van Wagenen wouldn't guarantee Callaway would be the manager for the entire year, he said the front office called a meeting with the coaching staff and players to make sure they were all on the same page.
"First and foremost, to make clear to the coaches make clear to Mickey, and make sure that the players understood that I, the front office, and the entire ownership group has support of Mickey Callaway as our manager," Van Wagenen said. "Mickey is our manager now, Mickey is our manager going forward."
Van Wagenen said he felt Callaway had the players' respect and "the pulse of the clubhouse," and Alonso backed his manager.
"I understand that it's New York and there's a lot of speculation, but I love playing for Mick," Alonso said. "Other guys in the clubhouse do too. Let's say if that his job was in jeopardy, that would be awful."
Alonso didn't just say it. He showed it on the field, hitting his 15th home run of the season, becoming the fastest Mets rookie to hit 15 home runs (46 games) in a season. The previous two on the list were David Wright and Ron Swoboda, according to ESPN.
Monday's win, one in which the Mets' bullpen pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth and a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth, was New York's first win since last Tuesday. And Alonso thinks it's the beginning of a run.
"Today's the start," Alonso said. "Today's the start of doing something. We've got to snowball good days."