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…

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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.”

Coming off a strained right flexor tendon that cost him the last bit of the season last year, Núñez has had a slow start to the spring, but “feels really good right now,” Stearns said.

The plan is to get the right-hander into live batting practices “in the next week or so and then from there into game action.”

But with a player who has had recurring elbow issues, the 28-year-old’s usage is something the Mets will have to monitor throughout the campaign. “It’s always gonna be in the back of our minds, it’s always a possibility,” Stearns said about Núñez having another injury and it is about striking the right balance during the year.

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.”