The Mets entered the 2018 season with a live-in-the-moment, get-it-done vibe. They have taken Mickey Callaway’s mission statement to heart: Be accountable. Do your job.
There is a tinge of Bill Belichick in all this, but Callaway clearly has gotten through to his best player in Yoenis Cespedes, and that is his greatest triumph so far.
Cespedes may have finally found a comfortable baseball home, where he will stand up and be counted, the center of attention in the batter’s box and in the clubhouse.
Callaway sold Cespedes on hitting in the No. 2 spot. As Cespedes said: “That’s where you put your best hitter.