The New York Mets’ injured list just got longer this Saturday when a routine play turned into a concerning moment for the franchise. The team was already operating without its starting shortstop. Now the latest setback has them losing even the backup. And all the fingers point to only one direction. 

“Season over, thanks, Stearns!” one fan wrote on social media after Ronny Mauricio was put on 10-day IL on Sunday. 

In the seventh inning of the final game against the Angels, Mauricio chopped an 82-mph slider to the infield. He slid to first base as the umpire signaled the second out of the inning. However, a challenge overturned the call and marked him safe. Well, not physically, though. The replay showed that while sliding with his hands stretched in front, Mauricio’s left thumb hit the bag. 

He fractured his thumb. And although an injury is quite common in baseball. The plethora of injuries the Mets have faced this season has made the fans put the blame on David Stearns. 

Ronny Mauricio’s journey has been a mixed bag of major and minor leagues. He was initially called up to replace injured Juan Soto on April 6. He translated his first at-bat of the regular season into a walk-off single the next day. However, the 25-year-old was optioned to Triple-A as Soto was fit to continue on April 13. 

Opportunity arrived again on April 23 when Francisco Lindor was injured from a left calf strain. But it was short-lived, as a fractured thumb takes around 6-8 weeks to heal. Lindor is expected to return late May or early June. And the Mets are again scrambling for answers. 

“It’s tough, obviously,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You lose your everyday shortstop, and the guy that comes up that is getting the everyday opportunity here now is hurt. Somebody else is going to have an opportunity.”

The Mets have called up Vidal Brujan, who will be the fourth different shortstop of this season. Lindor was the primary SS, and Mauricio served as his backup. After he was injured, Bo Bichette served as a stand-in. 

But New York’s shortstop isn’t the only position that has seen different players trying to step in. According to Mets’ insider Michael Baron, “they’ve also used four different first basemen, three third basemen, seven left fielders, and four right fielders” in 2026.

While Stearns wanted to make a solid team for this season, fans believe that these instances point toward a flawed roster construction. And the fact that the Mets are 5th in the NL East with an 11-22 record did nothing to support Stearns’ cause. 

Fans rip into Stearns after another injury exposes roster depth issues

“How the hell Stearns still have a job?! Mendoza might not be a good manager, but this is all on Stearns and his awful roster construction,” ranted one fan.

David Stearns claimed the roster was “built to withstand.” But reality seems to be far off as injury has become a recurring problem. Carlos Mendoza suffers fan backlash almost every other day for the team’s disastrous performance. But most people think it’s the roster construction that went haywire in the first place. 

“They’ve already used two more players than the Mets did for the entire 1986 championship season 40 years ago,” a user pointed out. 

He’s slightly off. The Mets won the World Series for the last time in 1986. And they did so by using 33 men – 19 position players and 14 pitchers. As of May 3, New York has used about 30 players. But it has only been over a month. And the way it is going, it wouldn’t be long before they have brought in more players. Stearns roster has 12 players on the IL, and he has called up 10 different players from the minor league so far. 

“I am beginning to think I could have put a better lineup than Stearns. I would have signed Alonso to play first base and Nimmo to be the dh, for starters, in forming a lineup,” a fan wrote.

The fans will never forgive how the Mets let go of players like Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz. They were the franchise’s cornerstones. And they even traded Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo, which many fans believe was the result of friction with Lindor. Had David Stearns not passed on them, the team would have been in a much better condition. But fans aren’t furious only about not signing elite players. Stearns reasoning for the decision has sent them over the edge. 

“‘Run Prevention’ according to the Boy Genius! Only run prevention going on is by the same bums when they bat. Oh, the Pain 😩,” a fan took a dig at Stearns.

The President of Baseball Operations argued that the 31-year-old who averaged around 40 home runs per season was a defensive liability. Notably, Alonso had an OAA percentile of 2 in 2025. But getting rid of an elite hitter to prevent the opposition from scoring seemed like a bizarre excuse for most fans. 

That’s why this particular fan claims that the roster construction is so bad, the batters are preventing their runs now. In fact, the Mets have scored 113 runs in the season, and they are 29th in the league. 

“Until Stearns gets fired, I’ll never watch another game @StevenACohen2 what an embarrassment,” read one comment. 

Fans are frustrated that Stearns has not taken any accountability. Most of them have lost faith in the team. Not because they have bad players. But they believe that the overall combination is messed up. And the only way to right the wrong is an overhaul, starting with the front office.

That’s why they are urging owner Steve Cohen to get rid of David Stearns immediately.