David Stearns: 'We need to focus on us' while picturing Mets' future

David Stearns was asked a big-picture question.

At the end of Stearns’ State of the Mets address, a few hours before Friday night’s series-opening 7-5 win over NL East-leading Atlanta at Citi Field, a reporter pointed out that none of the teams ahead of the Mets in the National League wild-card race have built an insurmountable lead.

So does the Mets’ president of baseball operations think there are pathways for his team to make up ground?

His answer was decidedly little-picture. Reality dictated it had to be.

“We need to focus on us,” Stearns said. “What the rest of the National League is doing right now, for us, in my opinion at least, is somewhat irrelevant. We’ve got to play consistently better baseball. We’ve got to win more consistently. Once we start doing that, then I’ll happily start looking at the standings and what the rest of the National League is doing.”

Stearns’ reluctance to engage in a discussion about the National League playoff race was not unreasonable. His Mets (31-38) finished the day trailing Atlanta (45-24) by 14 games and were 4 ½ games out of the last National League wild-card spot.

So any attempt to project the ways the Mets can climb back into the playoff race in the final 94 games when the first 68 exposed a flawed group would be counterproductive.

Even if, as he noted, the Mets began the day a combined 20-17 in May and June after a disastrous March and April in which they lost 21 of 31 games.

“We’ve got to prove that things are going to change,” Stearns said. “We’ve played better since April. There’s no question we’ve played better since April, but we still haven’t played consistent enough to get ourselves out of a hole. We’re very aware of that. So we have to prove it.”

The question is whether there is enough time for the Mets to change the trajectory of their season.

Stearns last spoke publicly before the Mets’ 9-7 win over the Marlins on May 29. During that question-and-answer session, although he would not tip his hand regarding whether he had begun contemplating subtracting players from the roster, he did acknowledge that the runway to make such a decision had begun to narrow, given that the trade deadline is Aug. 3.

When he met with reporters in the same anteroom before the game against the team with the best record in the sport, Stearns said the upcoming stretch of 20 out of 23 games against Atlanta, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and the Cubs — all ahead of the Mets in the division and wild-card races — is important.

But not because of who the opponents are and where they are in the standings.

“Where we are in the season, where we are from a record standpoint, regardless of who we’d be playing over the next month, is going to have an added level of importance,” Stearns said. “So this is an important time for us.”

To that end, it would aid Stearns’ decision-making process to field a full roster.

First baseman Jorge Polanco has played in only 14 games because of left Achilles bursitis. Francisco Lindor has not played since April 22 because of a left calf strain. A lumbar spine disc herniation has limited Luis Robert Jr. to 24 games. Kodai Senga has made only five starts because of lumbar spine inflammation.

Senga, Polanco and Lindor could return relatively soon.

Manager Carlos Mendoza called Senga’s rehab start with Double-A Binghamton on Thursday night “encouraging.” The righthander struck out five in six innings, surrendering one run and one hit.

“He threw strikes,” said Mendoza, who added that he was “pretty sure he was going to have another in the minor leagues.” Senga reported to Citi Field on Friday and was seen in the clubhouse after the game.

Mendoza thought Polanco would take batting practice on the field and, if all went well, would start DHing in the minor leagues shortly. Lindor had “live at-bats” and took ground balls in two simulated innings.

When the Mets are on the road next week, he will increase the simulations to three and five innings.

“We’re starting to build him up,” said Mendoza, who emphasized that the simulation will “not completely” take the place of a rehab assignment.

After rain delayed the start of the game by 76 minutes, Bo Bichette tied a career high with six RBIs. He hit a solo homer in the first inning and a grand slam in the second off Spencer Strider (4-2) before delivering a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Juan Soto also homered in the first, going back-to-back with Bichette.

Cionel Perez (3-3) threw 1 1⁄3 innings in relief of Nolan McLean to record the win. Devin Williams got the final four outs to earn his 10th save of the season. Matt Olson hit his 20th homer for Atlanta.