PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — After one of the worst pitched seasons in team history, the Mets changed their manager and their pitching coach and even overhauled their medical operation.

They also plan to rely on a not-so-secret weapon: better catching.

As simple as it sounds, the new manager, Mickey Callaway, and his pitching coach, Dave Eiland, are encouraging their projected catching platoon of Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki to be more assertive this season, to take ownership of both the planning for games and their own improvement.

Instead of coaches, d’Arnaud and Plawecki will be the ones leading the advance meetings before series and games. The two catchers will explain the plan for how to attack their opponent’s weaknesses to the pitching staff. And if something is not right, the catchers will be expected to notice, to speak up and to sort it out.

“I’ve told the catchers, I will never blame them for a pitcher giving up a hit or a certain pitch thrown,” Eiland said. “The only time I will get on the catcher is if they’re not prepared. But that’s not going to be an issue.”