Mets' first postseason opponent: Brewers, David Stearns' former team
The Mets' Francisco Lindor hits an RBI single during the fourth inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Aaron Gash
MILWAUKEE — For the Mets’ next challenge, they have to face one of the most dynamic teams in baseball, a club that has owned them in recent seasons, a roster built partially by their own boss: the Brewers.
This is David Stearns’ first season as the Mets’ president of baseball operations. He ran the Brewers for seven seasons, 2016-22, before transitioning into an advisory role and then getting hired by the Mets a year ago. So naturally, because the baseball gods seem to have a sense of humor, the first playoff opponent of their Stearns era is his former team.
The Mets went 1-5 against Milwaukee this season. That includes dropping a series — and looking bad for the first two games — in Milwaukee last weekend.
“Milwaukee’s an amazing team,” Brandon Nimmo said during the Mets’ post-clinch celebration Monday night. “We just played them. There’s a reason they won the [NL] Central. They’re very, very good. They have the best bullpen in the NL. Very good starters. They hit well. They get hits at the right time, clutch hits, and they run the bases well. An all-around great team.”
The best-of-three series begins immediately, with a schedule of:
- Game 1: Tuesday, 5:32 p.m. Eastern time
- Game 2: Wednesday, 7:38 p.m.
- Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday, 8:38 p.m.
The winner gets to face the Phillies in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday.
What to know about the Brewers: Somehow they were very good again this season. They lost their manager (Craig Counsell) and traded their best pitcher from a year ago (Corbin Burnes) and have lacked their best position player (Christian Yelich) because of a season-ending back injury in July.
Despite all of that, the Brewers went 93-69 (albeit in a poor division), two wins worse than the Phillies. They have eight players with double-digit stolen bases, a group headed by Brice Turang with 50 steals. Their bullpen has a 3.11 ERA, best in the league, and is full of guys who — aside from closer Devin Williams — are not brand names. Trevor Megill, brother of Mets righthander Tylor Megill, is among their primary setup men.
In the opener, the Mets will face righthander Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee’s top starter, who in the regular season had a 3.68 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. The Brewers haven’t announced pitching plans for the rest of the series.
The Mets are rolling with Luis Severino (3.91 ERA) on Tuesday. They have Sean Manaea (3.47) and Jose Quintana (3.75) lined up for the next two days.
“They’re a great team,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “There’s a reason why they have their record. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll be ready to go.”
Mendoza is part of a fun subplot to this series. He and Brewers manager Pat Murphy wound up with their jobs after Counsell spurned both teams in favor of the Cubs early last offseason. Now Mendoza and Murphy may well finish first and second — in some order — in the NL Manager of the Year competition.
Mendoza and Stearns have reached the promised land of October in their first year together, their first year with the Mets. Club owner Steve Cohen is of course very happy with the jobs they’ve done, raving about both at every opportunity.
Among the factors that please Cohen: the tendency of Stearns and his front office to scour the Mets’ farm system and the rest of baseball for potential upgrades, even if they’re marginal, to a degree and certainly with a level of success that the Mets have not had in the past. Jose Iglesias, Luis Torrens, Jose Butto and Phil Maton are some of those additions.
Stearns and the Brewers didn’t have the cleanest breakup. Cohen sought to hire Stearns for years before finally being allowed to do so — and only then because Stearns’ contract was running out — which bothered Brewers owner Mark Attanasio.
“[Stearns has] done an extraordinary job,” Cohen said. “Never quit on this team. Found any way he could to make this team better. You think about the roster at the beginning of the season versus where we are now, totally different roster. That just shows the tenaciousness to keep going and figure it out.”
What does Stearns think about another return to Milwaukee?
“I’ll talk about the Brewers tomorrow,” said Stearns, soaked with alcohol and very happy about it. “I’m going to enjoy the moment.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
