MILWAUKEE — Just call this playoff matchup the David Stearns Bowl.
It’s no secret that Stearns was the executive Mets owner Steve Cohen most coveted when he took a controlling interest in the club. He pursued the former Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations twice before finally getting a deal done with him a year ago to come to New York and head up the baseball ops department of the team they both grew up rooting for.
And maybe this is why the Mets decided to field a more competitive team after talking about taking a step back last year. Cohen looked at the pieces in place and realized the right person for the job could make them work.
In his first season as the Mets president of ops, Stearns did make them work, overseeing a roster that reached the postseason, with his new team facing his old team this week in an NL Wild Card series.
“Extraordinary job,” Cohen said Monday night in Atlanta. “He never quit improving this team. He found any way he could to make this thing better. And when you think about the roster at the beginning of the season versus where we are now, it’s a totally different roster. That just shows you know the tenaciousness to keep going and figure it out.”
But Stearns also knows the pieces in the other dugout work well together. After all, he brought many of them in, whether it was through the draft, through the international market or trades. Stearns also hired manager Pat Murphy in late 2015, though former manager Craig Counsel had some say in that one as well, bringing in the former Arizona State head coach as his bench coach. Murphy has since succeeded Counsel as the Brewers’ skipper and is considered the frontrunner for NL Manager of the Year after leading the team to the NL Central title and winning 93 games.
Since returning to Milwaukee with the Mets this week, Stearns has been diplomatic and respectful when asked about the Brewers. He doesn’t seem eager to talk about them. But it’s pretty easy to see his fingerprints all over both teams.
“I think David made it very clear that he wanted to have a good defense when he came over here, and he made some switches in order to improve our defense,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “Then he pointed to pitching like we need good pitching and we need a lot of depth with it. I think that’s something he did here as well. Then another thing is, we brought in Antoan [Richardson], and we focused more on stealing bags this year and we try to take advantage of that when the opportunity arises.”
Richardson, the Mets’ baserunning coordinator, has been one of the more popular hires for Stearns. The Mets had hoped to take advantage of the new rules last season by being more aggressive on the basepaths, even carrying light-hitting outfielder Tim Locastro at the start of the season to add speed to the roster. But other than Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte, the Mets didn’t take very many bases.
The Mets still aren’t exactly a running team, but Richardson has helped them better understand when to run.
“If we feel that this pitcher has a slower time or whatnot, then we’ll try to take advantage of that,” Nimmo said. “There’s always risk and reward, right? So if the risk is too great for the reward of it, then no. We do have a lineup that can beat you a few different ways, but if you can take that bag, you should. I definitely think it’s a part of our game plan, but we’re also not in the business of just trying to run in outs.”
The Brewers, however, run. A lot. They bullied catcher Francisco Alvarez last weekend and they did the same to Luis Torrens and just about every pitcher that took the mound with the exception of David Peterson. The lefty has a good pickoff move and they opted not to test it.
Curtailing the running game might be the biggest challenge for the Mets this week, given that throwing out runners is not a strength and the Brewers swiped the second-most bases in the NL this season.
That job falls on the pitchers, catchers and manager Carlos Mendoza. There is no more tinkering with the roster to be done, other than around the margins from series to series. The only surprise on the Mets’ postseason roster was the inclusion of right-hander Max Kranick, who has not pitched in the Major Leagues since 2022. Infielder Eddy Alvarez, who was not eligible for the postseason, was designated for assignment in corresponding move Tuesday ahead of the start of the series. Milwaukee hitters saw just about every arm in the Mets’ bullpen over the weekend, but not Kranick.
So if the Mets advance past the Brewers this week, they’ll have Stearns to thank. But if the Brewers advance past the Mets, well, they’ll also have Stearns to thank.
“I’m glad he’s here,” Murphy said. “That’s kind of fun. He can see some old friends.”
