Add The New York Post on Google By the end of this week, the Mets will have played more than half their schedule and they still carry the worst record in the NL East.
But if you’ve been waiting for them to blow up the roster and start over, you’re going to have to wait a while longer.
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Still, while Francisco Lindor’s impending return from the calf strain that’s sidelined him since April figures to help an ailing offense, it won’t do anything for what’s been a hugely disappointing rotation or get other injured high-profile players back on the field.
But David Stearns said that with the Aug. 3 trade deadline nearly six weeks away, Lindor and the rest of the cellar-dwelling team will get a chance to show that what they’ve done over the first nearly three months of the season isn’t who they really are.
“We have a period of time here before we have to make a finite decision about the trade deadline,” the team’s president of baseball operations said Tuesday at Citi Field. “We’re also in a period of time where we’ve got to start playing better baseball.”
Despite their awful record (34-44 after Tuesday’s series opening loss to the Cubs in Queens), Stearns said, “We’re going to continue to give this team time to prove that we can get back in this in a very legitimate sense.”
David Stearns, President of Baseball Operations for the New York Mets, speaks at a press conference. Robert Sabo for NY Post Stearns, speaking at his usual homestand availability — which he has kept up even as the season is crumbling around him — noted that it’s impossible to blame their poor play on any one part of the team.
At different times in the press conference, he pointed to the starting rotation’s inability to stay healthy or pitch deep into games, the lineup’s failure to produce runs and the organization so far not being able to get many of their players to play to their potential.
Asked about the disappointing rotation, Stearns said, “We clearly have been inconsistent in that facet of the game. We’ve been inconsistent at various times in all segments of the team. It’s why we have the record we have.”
They’ve resorted to using openers on a frighteningly regular basis and high-profile addition Freddy Peralta has had a nightmarish season, which Stearns blamed in part on mechanical issues that might be impacting his location.
The acquisitions on offense haven’t been much better, with Bo Bichette still waiting to get going and Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. not close to returning from injuries.
And more inexperienced players haven’t developed, outside of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing.
Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) gives up a 2-run home run to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson. Robert Sabo for NY Post “Both run-scoring and the starting rotation have to be more consistent going forward to go on the type of run of prolonged quality play we need to have,” Stearns said.
But he remains confident in the group he put together.
Asked if he could “fix” the roster during the season, Stearns said, “The word ‘fix’ is not something I’m thinking about. I think it’s about how to get players to play up to their potential. For a large segment of the roster, I don’t think we’ve seen that this year.”
Even with that lack of progress, Stearns said he was “pleased” with the processes of the coaching staff, much of which was overhauled during the offseason.
The Mets entered Tuesday six games out of the final wild-card spot in the National League and 14 ½ games behind Atlanta atop the NL East. All this from a team that owner Steve Cohen said during the spring needed to make the postseason this year.
“I think Steve wants us to, certainly, be better than we are,” Stearns said. “He’s frustrated. We’re all frustrated. Steve expects us to do better than this. I expect us to be better than this.”He, like me, is gonna withhold judgment on a trade deadline strategy til have to make a decision closer to that time.”
