CHICAGO — The Mets’ ugly start to the season isn’t a reflection on manager Carlos Mendoza, in his boss’ estimation.

David Stearns, the team’s president of baseball operations, on Friday defended Mendoza’s job performance hours before the Mets extended their losing streak to nine games — the club’s longest skid since 2004 — with a 12-4 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

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“I think Mendy is doing a really good job,” Stearns said. “He’s putting our players in a position to succeed. He’s enormously consistent.”

Stearns was asked how Mendoza was putting players in a position to succeed.

“Both in terms of how he’s managing the clubhouse, how he’s getting guys the right pockets, whether it’s matchups out of the bullpen, the right matchups in games,” Stearns said. “I think he is doing a good job.”

Stearns, who overhauled the roster during the offseason, expressed his belief in the players and said he expects a turnaround.

“We haven’t hit and when you don’t hit you can look stagnant,” Stearns said. “I think we’re playing hard. I think our guys are preparing. But I also understand, even from my seat, when you don’t hit, when there’s not a lot of action on the bases, when you can’t get that double with runners on base, it can feel stagnant.”

Stearns touted “run prevention” as he rebuilt the roster. To that end, he isn’t disappointed with what he’s seen.

“We’ve improved [defensively],” Stearns said. “We’ve certainly improved year over year. Defensively we have not been perfect, but overall, I can’t point at our defense and say that our defense has been a problem.”

Stearns also expressed confidence that Francisco Lindor, whose mental lapses defensively and on the bases have been pronounced over these initial three weeks, will get on track.

“He’s not perfect — no one is perfect,” Stearns said. “I don’t have a reason for it other than we’ve caught a three-week stretch in his career where he’s made some mistakes that he normally doesn’t make and I don’t think we’re going to see that consistently.”

Stearns also reaffirmed belief in the overall roster.

“We believe we have good players who are preparing the best way possible, who are working hard,” Stearns said. “And in my experience, generally, when you have good players who care about the right things, which our players do, it leads to good results.”