The Mets have shown what they\u2019re capable of when they\u2019re at their best, and shown what they\u2019re capable of when they aren\u2019t. They have yet to find any sort of in-between mode that can sustain them.<\/p>\n
After three weeks of regular-season play, president of baseball operations David Stearns sees a \u201cwell-rounded\u201d team that doesn\u2019t rely on any one facet or any singular player to win games. The team he built over the winter is mostly playing up to his expectations, but have yet to really hit their stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t look at any spot and say, \u2018Yeah, we\u2019re hitting on all cylinders there,’\u201d Stearns said Friday at Citi Field ahead of the Mets\u2019 series opener against the A\u2019s. \u201cSo I think I look at it and say, we set out to build a pretty balanced club that could win games in different ways. I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve played our best baseball yet, but we\u2019ve won games in different ways, and so that\u2019s been good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mets know that being the best team in April and May doesn\u2019t win you anything. They were the best team in the league for the first half of the 2025 season and still managed to miss the playoffs. So far, the Mets have displayed a very good starting rotation, a lineup that either hits everything or struggles to produce, and a defense that is mostly fine but still making adjustments with players adapting to new positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cRun suppression\u201d was a favored phrase of Stearns over the winter. In no uncertain terms, he made it clear the Mets would be better up the middle \u2014 both pitching and defense \u2014 and for the most part, they have been. It\u2019s the corners where they\u2019ve struggled at times.<\/p>\n
Still, their 1 Out Above Average is, well, about average in the league at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been a pretty good defensive team,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cI think around the diamond, we\u2019ve been a pretty good defensive team, and really, that includes the players who are playing slightly different positions, or the players who we are asking to play multiple positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stearns mentioned two tough plays that proved costly in the Mets\u2019 Thursday loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. Brett Baty, a natural third baseman playing right field, couldn\u2019t make a play on a double off the wall with two on and one out in the seventh inning. Mark Vientos, another natural third baseman, bounced a throw home with a very good runner on third base, when he could have made an easy out at first.<\/p>\n