David Stearns took some big swings this offseason in making over the Mets roster, and a 12-game losing streak just two weeks into the year might lead an executive to some regrets.
Stearns insisted Friday he remains confident in the group he put together as the president of baseball operations.
“It’s tough for me to take two weeks — even two weeks when we didn’t win a baseball game — and say that’s going to dramatically alter who we think we are,’’ Stearns said before the Mets opened a series against the Rockies at Citi Field.
“I still think we’re a good team,” Stearns said. “I recognize we had a stretch where we did not play good baseball, and it cost us. It cost us repeatedly. I think we’re a good team, and I think we will show that.”
It hasn’t been evident much so far, as the new-look offense has mostly slumped — outside of a 10-run eruption in Thursday’s win.
But even that victory was almost spoiled by some rough work by a bullpen that Stearns called “inconsistent,” with an odd mix of starting pitchers and the unreliable Devin Williams closing.
The rotation has been shaky outside of Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes and the defense, also a focal point of the offseason, has had its rocky moments.
And it left the Mets with a 9-16 record heading into Friday.
Asked about his attempt to improve the team’s run prevention — a theme in the offseason — Stearns said the results have been mixed.
“Run prevention as a whole is pitching and defense,’’ Stearns said. “There have been moments it’s really good [and] a couple moments that haven’t been so good. It leads to the record we’re at right now. We’ve had consistent play from different parts of our team.”
Bo Bichette has shown signs of life at the plate, as has Marcus Semien, but only the Giants entered Friday having scored fewer runs than the Mets and the lineup as a whole has struggled against hard fastballs.
Stearns pointed to the fact that some of those hitters struggling against high velocity have performed better in those spots throughout their careers and is confident that will happen again.
But the reality is, even with winning consecutive games following the franchise’s longest losing streak since 2002, the Mets have issues — including being without Francisco Lindor indefinitely with a strained left calf just as Juan Soto returned from a right calf strain.
“Injuries are part of this and injuries to good players are part of this,’’ Stearns said. “We’ve just got to get through it.”
Hopefully with more success without Lindor than in Soto’s absence.
“It’s frustrating,’’ Stearns said of the recent streak. “No one likes to lose and when you lose every single day for two weeks, it’s not a good feeling. We also know — I also know — where we are in the schedule and how long the season is.”
And that’s why he’s not looking back and wondering what went wrong in putting the team together.
“We’re not going to wholesale change the evaluation of our team over a two-week stretch,’’ Stearns said. “This is a long season. Going through a 12-game losing streak is difficult and not usual. There’s a reason it doesn’t happen very often, especially this early in the season.”
