Livescore
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns had updates on Sean Manaea’s injury timetable, Brandon Sproat’s path to the big leagues, and more.
Here are the most important notes from Thursday’s news conference…
On what’s next for Manaea
Stearns said that he believes the next step for the left-hander will be for him to undergo a “re-test, re-image” on either Monday or Tuesday.
“And then if all is good [from that], then we progress into the throwing program,” he said, adding the organization will have more information after those evaluations are done next week.
When asked about the timeframe after the lefty starts throwing, Stearns said, “You’re looking at probably a pretty normal spring training.”
“He hasn’t gone through spring training, so, I think our original timeframe was somewhere mid-to-late April, I think that still holds right now,” he said.
In addition to Manaea, the Mets lost the newly acquired Frankie Montas to injury at the start of camp, something Stearns said the club acknowledged as “part of baseball” and part of the long season while understanding that the timing was a bit of poor fortune.
“I would have preferred it didn’t happen before our first spring training game,” he said wryly with a slight smile about the timing of the injuries. “But I do think we’re built to withstand this, the rest of our guys have thrown the ball very well.”
Stearns added that both starters “seem to be progressing, at least for now, on the timeframes we anticipated at the front end, which is a good thing.”
On feeling good about the rotation
When asked about why he thought the club was built to withstand these early injuries, Stearns pointed to seeing good stuff from the pitchers so far this spring.
“I think from all our starters – including [David Peterson], [Kodai] Senga what we saw the other night, and certainly Clay Holmes – throughout the spring have thrown the ball very well. And that is very encouraging,” he said. “A number of them came to camp maybe working on something different, and by and large those new projects have gone well.
“That’s always fun for us to watch in camp, fun for you guys to watch in camp. You never really know how it plays going into the regular season, but it’s going well. And I think we feel pretty good about where our starting staff is at the moment.”
On Sproat’s path to a MLB debut
“It’s tough not to be impressed,” Stearns said about the Mets’ No. 1 prospect’s performance in spring training thus far. “He carries himself really well, I think he’s very focused. He’s still growing and adding to his arsenal, which is still exciting for a guy who’s as talented as he is and has flown through the minor leagues at the rate that he has.”
Of course, Sproat did come back down to earth last year when he hit Triple-A Syracuse and that is going to be a marker for the Mets to use to determine when he will be ready for a call-up.
“We also believe he still has development left,” Stearns continued. “And we want to see him really have significant success at the Triple-A level. I think he wants to prove he can do that as well. And once we see that we can start talking about when is the right time at the major league level.”
What is significant success?
“I don’t know, we kinda know it when we see it,” he said breaking into another broad smile. “We want him to get guys out and I think he will.”
In seven starts last year, the hard-throwing right-hander got tagged for 36 hits and 25 runs (24 earned) with seven home runs over 28.2 innings for a 7.53 ERA and 1.640 WHIP.
On young players getting chances
In the wake of those injuries and a freak one to infielder Nick Madrigal, Stearns was asked if he had any regrets about not bringing back players who were helpful last year like José Quintana and Jose Iglesias, who have both signed elsewhere.
“No, we feel really good about our team,” he said. “We prepare for injuries, we feel like we have depth and I’m excited to see what some of our other players, including some of our young players, are gonna be able to do with that opportunity.”
With that in mind, Stearns was asked about the possibility of Luisangel Acuña being blocked from big-league playing time on the infield.
“We’ll find out. We’re not gonna put prospects on the team just to sit on the bench,” he said. “I’m also pretty confident that over the course of the year through injuries, through performance fluctiations, through matchups we’re going to be able to get our young players sufficient playing time at the major league level.
“I don’t know exactly when that is going to occur, but I think ensuring we continue to have that possibility throughout the course of the year is important.”
Stearns added earlier that it is important for the club to “have space on our roster… for younger players to make an impact, particularly at positions where you have significant talent reaching the upper levels of the minor leagues.”
“We feel like we’ve got a host of young talented infielders and we need to let them play,” he continued. “I’ve also said it doesn’t have to be on Opening Day. But we need to have a roster construction where we’re comfortable that, over the course of the season, we’re gonna allow our younger players to get their shot.”
On insights into Juan Soto
What has Stearns learned about the player at the center of the offseason: “He’s got a really good sense of humor. He likes to have fun, he’s a funny guy.”
Of course, that’s only part of who Soto is.
“When you watch him across the field, he takes his craft so seriously,” Stearns continued. “And that’s also what came across in our meetings with him is how he takes his craft, how much he thinks about hitting.
“I think seeing him interact with his teammates on a daily basis, interact with the staff on a daily basis. It’s business when it’s in the cage, and it’s business when it’s out [on the field], and then when it’s back there, it’s fun and it’s humor and it’s smiling and that’s cool to see.”
On an otherwise normal spring
When asked for something that has surprised him most this camp, the president of baseball operations leaned back in his chair and asked the reporter what they thought would qualify.
“This has been a pretty standard, normal camp, maybe that’s the surprise,” Stearns said. “It’s been calm, I think we have a group of coaches who know what their jobs are who are very focused on getting our players ready.
“I think we have a group of players who know how to get ready for a major league season and are very focused on getting ready for a major league season. That’s where everyone’s priorities are, everyone understands what the expectations are for us. So, not a lot has surprised me yet.”
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