The New York Mets are having a rough year. That’s not really up for debate. They fired manager Carlos Mendoza on Friday, they’re dead last in the NL East with a 35-48 record, and they just snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Phillies 6-2 on Saturday. So it’s not great.
But shortstop Francisco Lindor is still giving credit where he thinks it’s due. Specifically to David Stearns, the team’s president of baseball operations, who put this roster together over the winter.
“I feel like Stearns did a good job putting the team together,” Lindor told SNY. “We just haven’t been together, you know? We just haven’t played together. Now that we’re slowly getting healthy, little by little, hopefully this next however many games we can play together and make something special out of it.”
Lindor’s point is hard to argue with on paper. The Mets have dealt with a ton of injuries this season. Key guys have missed time, the lineup has been a rotating door, and the pitching staff has been banged up too. The roster Stearns built in the offseason looked solid on paper. It just hasn’t had a chance to actually play together for any real stretch.
Of course, the results are the results. You can only say “we haven’t been together” for so long before it starts sounding like an excuse. But Lindor isn’t wrong that health has been a major factor.
A win and some optimism under Andy Green
Saturday’s win was the first for interim manager Andy Green, who took over after Mendoza was let go. Green kept things pretty low-key about it.
“Wins are fun, but it’s not about me,” Green said. “It’s about the team, and winning as a group is fun. Playing whatever part you play in that, it’s fun. I think the guys did a lot of good things today. It was a cool team win where you can talk about a bunch of different guys.”
Lindor had a big night in that game. He tripled and drove in two runs. He was clearly feeling good about his own performance too.
“It was fantastic,” Lindor said. “It was great to see quality at-bats from the start of the lineup all the way until the end. It was really good. Man, the older I get, the more triples I get. I don’t like it. I want more doubles. The triple felt good. The trainer did a good job in prepping me and getting ready for this. I feel good. I’m in a good spot.”
Lindor is batting .268 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs this season. Not his best year, but not awful either. The Mets clearly need more from him if they’re going to climb out of the cellar.
New York faces Philadelphia again on Sunday afternoon. The Mets have 79 games left. Plenty of time to make something happen. Or plenty of time to keep sinking. Right now it could go either way.
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