NEW YORK — The Mets were .500 on Friday, and with a 17-6 record in 23 games heading into this weekend’s series against the Astros, they had reason to be confident.
It also helps that New York has some talented players, such as Francisco Lindor and J.D. Martinez, who have been hitting well recently.
Mets team president David Stearns said the team is in good form and has time to make a decision before the trade deadline on July 30. Stearns didn’t rule out any possibility before the deadline.
“Obviously, our team’s performance has improved a lot over the last few weeks,” Stearns told the media on Friday. “I think we’re pretty close to the level of baseball and the consistency that we envisioned all season, and now we just have to continue that.”
“I that [locker] We’ve given ourselves an opportunity now and the room understands we just need to continue to execute.”
Stearns said catcher Francisco Alvarez’s return from a left thumb injury is one of the reasons the Mets have suddenly become a wild-card contender.
Alvarez entered Friday’s game with a .415/.500/.732 batting average in June. His 1.232 OPS during that span was third-best in the major leagues (minimum 30 games played).
“I think you can tell the impact Alvi had on our team by watching how he played when he was on the field and when he wasn’t,” Stearns said. “Some of it may have to do with timing and other guys being on the field, and some of it may have to do with the importance of the catcher and the impact he has on the game as a whole and whether he’s available or not.” [play] Both sides of the ball.”
Stearns praised first-year head coach Carlos Mendoza for his stability and consistency, saying Mendoza knows it’s a long season and doesn’t panic when things aren’t going his way.
“He’s been in this city a long time and has seen all the ups and downs that you see,” Stearns said, “so he’s the same guy from day one when we were struggling to now when we’re playing a lot better.”
“From my perspective, it’s helped a lot. That’s really why we’ve been able to bounce back here throughout the season.”