Stearns expresses confidence Mets will break out of slump

MILWAUKEE (AP) — New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns acknowledged feeling frustrated by the team's recent hitting struggles but expressed confidence the slump won't last long. The Mets had lost eight of nine to fall 2 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East as they began a three-game series with the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. New York arrived in Milwaukee after getting swept at home by Cleveland, as the team totaled five hits while losing 3-2 and 4-1 in the final two games of that series. In the finale Wednesday, the Mets went hitless until the ninth inning against Gavin Williams. "Clearly everyone's frustrated," Stearns said before Friday's game. "Players are frustrated. At times, I've been frustrated. But I believe that this is a good offensive team. I believe in the offense that we have in place, and I'm confident we're going to see that going forward." Stearns also expressed support for hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes. "I have confidence in our hitting coaches," Stearns said. "I think we have good hitting coaches. They have track records of helping to lead and put together really quality offenses." The Mets entered Friday having failed to exceed three runs in five of their last eight games. For the season, the Mets ranked 15th in the majors in runs (501), 23rd in batting average (.239), 15th in on-base percentage (.318), 14th in slugging percentage (.404) and 13th in OPS (.722). Those weren't the results expected of a lineup that features 2024 NL MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor, five-time Silver Slugger winner Juan Soto and five-time All-Star Pete Alonso. Last year, the Mets were seventh in runs (768), 12th in batting average (.246), eighth in on-base percentage (.319), 10th in slugging percentage (.415) and ninth in OPS (.734) as they earned a wild-card playoff berth and ended up in the National League Championship Series. Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza cited the track record of the Mets' hitters as reason to believe things will turn around soon. "They're really good players and they've done it before," Mendoza said. "It's just, when you're going through it, it gets noisy, you know? But when you look at our players, when you look at that locker room, there's a lot of talent there. They'll get out of it." Stearns also pointed to the way the Mets' hitters have responded to this recent adversity. "I think you go through our clubhouse, my guess is you sense frustration, but you're probably not sensing panic and you're probably also seeing a level of preparation and focus that's really good," Stearns said. "When I see those things, it gives me confidence that we're going to snap out of this." ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB