Why The Mets Are 'Feeling The Risk' On Evaluating Injury-Prone Players

CITI FIELD (New York) – Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns sat in front of the microphone on Tuesday before the team opened a six-game homestand, and there were two moments that stood out from his scheduled news conference with reporters. 

One was about the Mets manager, and the other was regarding his front office’s assessment on injury-prone players. 

The Mets entered the day with the worst record (15-25) in Major League Baseball. On Tuesday, they promoted No. 2 overall prospect A.J. Ewing in an attempt to fill a need in the outfield and, it went without saying in their official press release, to shake things up. 

The Mets are still among the cellar teams in MLB. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Stearns has fielded questions from reporters once every homestand since he took the job in October 2023. Typically, the longtime baseball executive is composed — perhaps even unflappable — when addressing the team’s poor performance. It’s clear to see he prides himself on being unemotional in front of the cameras. But, on Tuesday, Stearns got a little snippy in response to a question about manager Carlos Mendoza’s job security. 

"I'll let my words speak for themselves," Stearns said in a measured and tight tone. "I've been very clear and consistent that I think Mendy does a really good job. I believe Mendy does a really good job. I like coming to work with him every day. I'm not going to address this every two weeks when I talk to you guys. I'll leave it at that."

As long as the Mets continue to lose, questions about those who are in charge and whether their baseball operations processes are working will persist. On some level, the Mets P.O.B.O. understands that. After all, he grew up a Mets fan on the Upper East Side. He knows the heat comes with the territory. But, behind Stearns’ sly grin, his sharp answer revealed how much the pressure of the team’s current situation is getting to him. 

The Mets have represented the worst offense in baseball for a quarter of the season. They entered the day tied with the San Francisco Giants for the fewest runs scored (139) in MLB. It’s no longer early, as both Stearns and Mendoza said. But Mets leadership believes there is too much talent on the team, as well as enough season left, for the club to turn things around. Stop me if you’ve heard this answer before, as in last year, when the Mets were unable to turn things around en route to missing the playoffs.

"We have a lot of players with really good track records in this league," Stearns said when I asked what he specifically believes in about this team. "We are counting on those track records, not only on the field, but how they prepare for games, how they go about their business, how hard they're working right now. And we believe that ultimately that's going to show."

As the Mets turn, their top prospect, Ewing, is the latest player whom the team hopes will jump-start its lifeless offense and save the season. The 21-year-old started the year in Double-A and played just 12 games at the Triple-A level before joining the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday. Ewing, praised for his speed, hit .326/.392/.435 with five stolen bases, five walks and four RBI in those dozen games. Mets officials said they would not have called up Ewing unless they truly believed he was ready for the big-league jump. Unfortunately, it smells of desperation. 

Ewing did impress in Tuesday's outing – an RBI triple in the seventh for his first career hit, and then becoming the first Mets player with a triple in his big league debut. He also walked three times, scored twice, and stole a base.

It was apparent when the Mets took the field on Opening Day that the lineup was built to be overly reliant on players who have a history of getting injured. 

Luis Robert Jr., who is currently sidelined with a herniated disk in his lumbar spine, was one of those injury-prone players the Mets acquired over the offseason. The Mets gave up Luisangel Acuña for Robert when they had a logjam in the infield anyway after trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Robert, at his best, is an All-Star center fielder who is just a few years removed from winning the Silver Slugger award at his position. 

But, all along, the Mets’ grand plan to keep him on the field was a delayed ramp-up during spring training, followed by regularly scheduled off days once the season began. It didn’t work. Despite their best precautionary measures, Robert's injury has significantly weakened the Mets lineup and created a revolving door in center field.

The team’s situation at first base has been a disaster, too. After passing on free agent Pete Alonso, who is currently the Mets’ franchise leader in home runs, Stearns signed veteran infielder Jorge Polanco to play first base. Polanco played two games at first this season before going down with an Achilles injury and a wrist contusion. Robert and Polanco are earning a combined $40 million this year, an exorbitant amount that only seemed reasonable if both players stayed on the field for the majority of the season. As of this moment, there is no timetable for their returns. 

Jorge Polanco is among the players dealing with injuries in Queens. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

While Stearns said, "I don't think sitting here in the middle of May that I'm going to do a postmortem on our season," it stood out that he admitted he may need to rethink some of his models and systems on injury-prone players. 

"I think we absolutely have to look at our risk assessment on injured players, or players who get injured once they're here," Stearns said. "Certainly we know we're taking a level of risk when we bring players in with injury histories. We're feeling that risk right now. And it certainly doesn't help that a number of our players have gotten hurt at the exact same time. It's not something that we necessarily anticipated. But I think that's a fair question and something we need to look at."

Stearns & Co. may not have anticipated that several players would get hurt at the same time, but anyone who has followed the Mets for the past few decades was looking out for it. Even if Stearns was wearing rose-colored glasses when he constructed the roster over the winter, it’s hard to imagine that he believed the team’s strategy in building more off days for Robert would be the solution. Mets brass had to know their depth would be tested eventually. 

 David Stearns has been candid about the Mets' ongoing struggles. (Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

As it turned out, 38-year-old outfielder Tommy Pham was not the answer; he recorded two hits in 31 plate appearances before the team designated him for assignment. Then, the Mets signed journeyman right fielder Austin Slater at the end of April, and he has one extra base hit in 16 at-bats. So, no, that hasn’t been the spark the offense is looking for. Outfielder/designated hitter MJ Melendez has made the most of his opportunity with an .852 OPS in 20 games since getting called up last month. But the rest of the Mets offense has performed so poorly that Melendez’s at-bats haven’t helped. 

Now, the club is hoping Ewing is the answer. If he is part of the solution, the Mets can still go on a run and compete for a spot in the playoffs. And if he's not, they're inching closer and closer to being sellers at the trade deadline.

Stearns was asked at what point this season he would pivot to the future and decide that this year's club, the one he tore down and built in his own vision, is just not good enough.

"We're not close to that point right now," Stearns said. 

There were no more questions, not even the ones he won't address every two weeks.

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.