Terry Collins preached patience everywhere but behind the plate.

He talked optimistically despite Matt Harvey’s continued struggles on the mound and said the Mets hit the ball well all night despite managing just a single in a 3-0 loss to the woeful Braves Tuesday night at Citi Field.

Yet, when asked about catcher Kevin Plawecki, the manager’s tone changed drastically.

“I don’t mean to put a lot of pressure on him, but he’s got to start getting some hits,” Collins said. “We all thought he was going to be a good offensive player.

“We need [him] to start getting some hits.”

Plawecki is batting an anemic .176, doesn’t have an extra-base hit in 34 at-bats and is expected to be in the lineup nearly every day until Travis d’Arnaud returns from the 15-day disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain. His return doesn’t appear imminent.

Plawecki hardly distinguished himself offensively a year ago, batting just .219 with a .576 OPS and .296 slugging percentage in 73 games while subbing for the oft-injured d’Arnaud. The Mets hoped experience would help him, but so far, he hasn’t improved at the plate.

“It’s frustrating, but I feel like I’m having some good at-bats,” Plawecki said. “I’m just trying to go up there and hit the ball hard. There’s nothing you can do besides going back to work and keep going up there, having good at-bats, and the results will take care of [themselves] in time.”

Since d’Arnaud went down, Plawecki is just 3-for-18 with four walks. He was 0-for-2 on Tuesday, including a 4-6-3 double play in which he did hit the ball hard, but right at Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson. Plawecki has been working on his fundamentals with hitting coach Kevin Long.

“I feel like I’ve shown what I can do. It’s just a matter of getting a couple of things to fall in here and there,” Plawecki said. “It is frustrating, I’m not going to lie about that, but I’m not going to press too hard about that. I’m going to keep working and the hits will fall. They’ve always evened out at the end of the year.

“It’s still early.”