MILWAUKEE
The Mets have had a tough time offensively this season, yet the team’s baseball president, David Stearns, isn’t pointing fingers at the hitting coaches.
On Friday, Stearns essentially defended Eric Chavez and Jeremy Burns, who have been sharing hitting coach duties for the past two seasons, amidst the team’s overall hitting struggles.
As the Mets prepared to face the Brewers at American Family Field, Stearns expressed his confidence in Chavez and Burns. He mentioned, “I believe we have coaches who understand how to hit well. They guide our players and emphasize quality at-bats, but sometimes, even talented players go through slumps that can be really maddening.”
He added, “Recently, our lineup has gone through frustrating stretches that are well below our capabilities. Everyone is working hard to turn things around.”
So far, the Mets have experienced eight losses in nine games, with a meager average of 3.9 runs per game during that stretch. Their overall scoring has placed them 15th in MLB, averaging 4.35 runs.
The frustration has been evident in the team’s recent home games. In six games against the Giants and Guardians, they failed to score more than four runs in four of them. In their last homestand game, they were shut down, missing a chance against Juan Soto’s ninth home run hit against Gavin Williams.
Chavez noted he felt encouraged by the players’ commitment, mentioning that “around eight or nine players showed up early for practice on Friday.”
“I love to chat; it’s fantastic,” Chavez stated, “but the only message I want to send is to keep working. If you’re having trouble with your backhand, what do you do? You practice. It’s the same with fielding mistakes.”
However, star players like Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso have also been underperforming lately.
Soto, who was named the National League Player of the Month in June with a 1.196 OPS, has seen a significant drop, entering Friday with a .761 OPS since June 29.
Chavez shared, “He’s been one of the most unlucky hitters lately. When your team is struggling like this, you just need those tough breaks to start going your way. We’ve had difficulty pieceing it all together.”
While things are tough, there’s a silver lining: despite their offensive woes, the Mets are only 2½ games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 3½ games out of the third Wild Card spot held by the Reds.
“I think we all feel somewhat optimistic as a team. We may not be at our offensive peak yet, but we’re still managing to achieve some decent results,” Chavez remarked. “Our best offensive performance is still ahead of us. But yes, it’s a challenging time.”
