Mets' Collins ready to 'shake some things up'

When your team shows zero punch while getting swept by what was the worst team in baseball, change is almost assuredly in the cards.

That's exactly what New York Mets manager Terry Collins is thinking about doing after his team let the Atlanta Braves run wild at Citi Field over the weekend. The NL's worst team outscored the free-falling Mets 15-4 over three games - punctuated Sunday by a complete-game one-hit shutout from Julio Teheran - sending New York tumbling out of both second place in the NL East and a playoff spot.

With six losses in their last eight games and struggles mounting on both sides of the ball, the time seems right for a change.

"You don't want to panic early, but right now with what's going on, we may shake some things up," Collins told reporters after Sunday's game.

The skipper didn't reveal any specific plans in his mind when pressed, but it's possible one change could involve the struggling Michael Conforto. After a red-hot start to his first full big-league season the outfielder's production has fallen off the map in June, where he owns a .137/.164/.275 line with 18 strikeouts, leaving a benching or even a demotion in play.

"We're going to look at every angle," Collins said of how to help Conforto.

One person Collins isn't expecting to parachute in as the savior is catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who's likely to come off the disabled list on Tuesday. They're not counting on him to lead the way, though, since as the skipper notes, "he hasn't played in the big leagues in a long time."

For now, all the Mets can do is shake off their disappointing weekend and have belief that they'll be able to pull themselves out of this latest tailspin.

"We came in here riding about as good a high as you could ride with the way we were swinging the bats," Collins said, referencing his team's two wins against Pittsburgh leading into the disastrous weekend. "And we got out-pitched and out-hit (by Atlanta). That’s baseball."