Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns discussed a number of different topics prior to Monday’s series opener against the Marlins.
Here are some of the key takeaways…
Baty and Acuña’s struggles
With Jeff McNeil remaining sidelined due to an oblique injury suffered late in camp, the Mets have been forced to lean on the duo of Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña at second base in the early going.
While they’ve stepped up defensively, they haven’t quite seen the same success at the plate.
Baty appeared to be on the strong side of the platoon after his monster showing in spring training, but he’s lost out on playing time of late as he’s been stuck in a brutal 2-for-21 stretch over his first seven appearances.
Acuña hasn’t exactly been tearing the cover off the ball either, going 2-for-14 with a double.
McNeil recently began swinging a bat as he begins his progression towards a return — but with him still a couple of weeks away, Stearns would love to see one or both of them step up with the opportunity in front of them.
“That’s what someone like Mark Vientos did last year,” he said. “When he got an opportunity and he solidified a spot at the major league level, you’d love to see that from young players. I also understand that it can’t always happen at the exact moment we want it to.
“And for both of these guys, if one of them does find their way back to the minors at when we get fully healthy, there are going to be other opportunities. We know that they will find their way back to the big leagues and they’ll get another shot. But I’d love to see one or both of them perform at a high level before we have to make those decisions.”
Acuña is starting against right-hander Valente Bellozo on Monday night.
Vientos’ struggles
Speaking of Vientos, he’s also gotten off to a dreadful start at the plate.
After breaking out last year and showcasing his game-changing power so often during the playoffs, the youngster hasn’t quite been able to tap into that, producing just two extra base-hits through 34 at-bats.
Other than that, he has just two other hits and has struck out eight times.
Vientos was expected to help serve as one of the big-time run producers in the middle of this lineup after they added Juan Soto and brought back Pete Alonso, however, we haven’t quite seen that from him yet.
Still, Stearns is confident he’ll be able to turn things around.
“He’s off to a rough start,” Stearns said. “It was good to see him get a knock yesterday — he will snap out of this, clearly he isn’t performing at the level we saw from him last year and he’s not performing at the level he wants, but the talent is still in there.
“He’s still a really good hitter, he’s got a ton of power. We probably just have to get him back to swinging at a few more strikes and I think we will.”
The bullpen’s hot start
On the other hand, one of the biggest bright spots thus far has been the Mets’ bullpen.
Stearns has been famous for finding diamonds in the rough and building tremendous relief units over his years with the Brewers — and he appears to have done it again in just his second season in the Big Apple.
From Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban to A.J. Minter and Edwin Diaz, each and every member of the bullpen has stepped and recorded big outs for this team over the first nine games of the season.
After Sunday’s tremendous performance, they have a league-best 1.29 ERA on the year.
“We’ve needed them and they’ve performed at a very high level,” Stearns said. “Clearly we wouldn’t have the record we have right now without the contributions from every single member of that pen — that’s probably been the most impressive part to me.”
They’ll also be receiving another big boost soon, as right-hander Dedniel Núñez continues working his way through his progression in the minors after being left off the big-league roster coming out of camp.
He’s allowed three runs in four appearances, but the Mets are encouraged by how he’s looked.
“The reports have been pretty good, he looks like Nuney,” he said. “We’re going through a pretty structured progression so that when he’s called up he has the ability to function as a full-go major league reliever, but the stuff has been good.
And don’t forget about Big Pete
Pete Alonso has also looked tremendous at the plate in the early going.
With the rest of the Mets’ offense struggling to get into a groove, the big man has been locked in — picking up big hit after big hit when this team has needed it the most over the first nine games of the season.
He’s has two doubles, three homers, 11 RBI, and a 1.066 OPS through 31 at-bats.
“We’ve seen over the years that when Pete gets going, he can carry a team,” Stearns said. “It’s been fun to see him with some enormous home runs — I think he’s enjoyed it. Hopefully it’s allowed him to take a little bit of a deep breathe and he’s earned it.
“He loves playing here, our fans love watching him, and he’s been a huge part of our wins so far this season.”
