Mets are cooking, which alters recipe before Trade Deadline

NEW YORK -- 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.

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With the team playing well, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said he has time to make decisions before the Trade Deadline on July 30. Stearns would not rule out anything 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 has looked at the return of catcher Francisco Alvarez from a left thumb injury as one of the reasons the Mets are suddenly Wild Card contenders.

Alvarez entered Friday with a June slash line of .415/.500/.732. His 1.232 OPS during that span was the third-best mark 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 said. “Some of that is probably timing and other guys playing well. Some of that is the importance of a catcher and how a catcher can impact the entire game and when you have a catcher who can [play] both sides of the ball.”

Stearns praised first-year manager Carlos Mendoza for his steadiness and consistency. Mendoza realizes it’s a long season, and he doesn’t show any panic when things go wrong.

“He has been around this town a long time and has seen all the ups and downs that you can see,” Stearns said. “So he has been the same guy from Day 1, when we had our struggles, and now, when we have played much better.

“From my perspective, that is very helpful. That is certainly a real reason why we’ve been able to bounce back here throughout the course of the season.”