The Mets entered Friday at .500. With a 17-6 record across 23 games heading into their weekend series against the Astros, the Mets had reason to feel good about themselves.
It helps that New York’s better players, like Francisco Lindor and J.D. Martinez, have swung hot bats of late.
With the team doing well, Mets head of baseball operations David Stearns says he has time to make decisions before the July 30 Trade Deadline. Stearns wouldn’t rule anything out before the deadline.
“Clearly, our team performance has improved quite considerably over the past few weeks,” Stearns told the media on Friday. “I think we are playing much closer to the level of baseball and the consistency of baseball we have envisioned throughout the course of the season, and now we have to continue it.
“I think everyone in that [locker] room understands that we have now given ourselves an opportunity, and we need to continue to run with it.”
Stearns cites catcher Francisco Alvarez’s comeback from a left thumb injury as one of the reasons the Mets are now Wild Card candidates.
Alvarez came into Friday with a June slash line of.415/.500/.732. His 1.232 OPS during that time was the third-best in the Major Leagues (minimum 30 appearances).
“I think looking at Alvi’s impact on the team is something that we all see in how we have played when he has been active and when he hasn’t been active,” Stearns told the media. “Some of that is certainly due to time and the other guys playing well. Some of that is the importance of a catcher and how a catcher can effect the entire game. When you have a catcher who can
