Stearns Praises Lindor, Says the Mets are No Fluke

Francisco Lindor looks like an MVP, Francisco Alvarez will break out of his slump and the surging Mets are no fluke, David Stearns told reporters in a pre-game news conference Tuesday at Citi Field.

“We’re in the thick of it,” the president of baseball operations said. “We’ve earned the right to be here. We’ve played well enough to be here. This isn’t a fluke. And we’ve got a month left to play really good baseball to give us a chance to have some fun in October and that’s what you want this time of year. And I’m optimistic and I’m confident in this group that we can continue to play at a high level.”

When Asked “What does an MVP look like?”

“I think he looks like the guy who runs out to shortstop every day for us at 7 o’clock,” Stearns said. “It’s been an unbelievable season to watch. We’re getting to the point, I think, where we’re talking about perhaps the greatest individual position player season in the history of this franchise. I’ve been around some really special seasons, been around some MVP seasons. This is right up there with anything I’ve seen on a day-to-day basis.”

He was asked about Lindor’s leadership.

“I think that’s part of the entire package that he brings. And it’s easy to quantify what he does on the field and that’s really impressive. Much harder to quantify the impact he has both by what he says and also by how he acts. He works so hard he takes so much pride in his own preparation, but also ensuring that his teammates prepare appropriately and it’s the entire package that I think allows him to contribute so much to the organization.”

Why is this his best year yet in a Mets uniform?

“I think Francisco is healthy and I think that helps a lot,” he said. “I think he’s enjoying this year as much as he’s probably enjoyed any year in baseball. And that’s partially because of where he is and how he’s performing, also the guys around him. I think he’s just having fun. It’s a lot easier to perform at a high level when you’re coming to the ballpark every day having fun.”

On Francisco Alvarez

After smacking 25 home runs in his rookie year, the 22-year-old catcher has six home runs and a .664 OPS in 2024.

“Every player goes through this and young players certainly go through this and I think given the success that Alvy had in his first season in the big leagues and at periods this year it’s easy to forget how young this player is and how much we have asked of him as an organization.

“Beginning last year, what he does behind the dish, the amount of attention and focus that he gives to our pitchers. The investment he puts in game calling, some of the leadership aspects that he provides to our team. All of that is a lot to put on any player, certainly a young player. I think he’s handled most of it really well. There’s going to be ups and downs. Right now, we’re going through a down period. I have a ton of confidence that Alvy is going to snap out of this, help us this year and for years to come.”

Should Alvarez focus less on leading and more on hitting?

“I think sometimes you’d like to take things off of players’ plates. And players want to put more on their plate. And someone like Alvy who wants to be the leader, who is so invested in winning and his teammates and the pitching staff, really tough for him to take stuff off his plate.”

On David Peterson

“I think when you see actual results differ from expected there can be a number of things that drive. In the case of Petey, he’s got an arsenal, that, 1, produces some weak contact, and he avoids patterns. So he has the ability from start to start to be pretty unpredictable about what he’s going to throw in a particular count. He has especially recently been able to throw everything for strikes. And all that’s a pretty good combination. And I think from his perspective he would say, ‘I’m finally healthy and I can go out there and especially in between starts get my work in and strive to improve.'”

On the Coaching Staff

Stearns lauded many of the coaches, including first base coach Antoan Richardson, who helped Brandon Nimmo with his base stealing (12-for-12, his previous career high was nine), bullpen coach José Rosado who helped the relief corps, and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who worked with Sean Manaea.

“A Sean Manaea release point change midseason,” he said. “That’s a really cool idea and really difficult to execute. And it requires tremendous athleticism on the part of the player. It also requires a lot of work and monitoring on the part of the  coach.”

He had praise for hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes.

“Both of them sticking with our hitters through the first six, eight weeks of the season, which were tough. Maintaining a consistent and positive approach to getting our offense to the place where it really carried us for a couple of months in the middle of the season.”

On Carlos Mendoza

“Mendy earned this job. Mendy probably should have gotten a job well before this. We’re very fortunate that he didn’t. And so he earned this job and through the interview process it became very apparent that he was likely to succeed in this job and he’s certainly proven that over the course of the year.”

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