Are the Mets nearing the point of no return in 2025?
Another bullpen meltdown, another blown lead, and another crushing loss for the Mets as the season continues to get away from them...
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets blew yet another lead on the way to losing 11-9 in an absolute slugfest to the Mariners on Friday night (box)
LHP Sean Manaea was far from dominant, allowing four earned runs on six hits and one walk with a season-high seven strikeouts across five innings
The bullpen imploded in the seventh with RHP Ryan Helsley and LHP Brooks Raley combining to allow five earned runs on five hits as another lead was blown
SS Francisco Lindor had another big night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, two runs scored, and four RBIs
C Francisco Álvarez hit a three-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth to make it a two-run game, but the offense couldn’t stage a rally in the ninth
The Mets have reportedly designated RHP Paul Blackburn for assignment (MLB.com)
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets lost yet again on Friday night, while the Phillies beat up on the Nationals. As a result, New York is now six games back of Philadelphia for the NL East lead. However, with the Reds losing to the Brewers, the Mets remain a half game ahead of Cincinnati for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 76.4% chance of making the 2025 playoffs.
Who’s Hot? 🥵
RF Juan Soto hit his 30th home run of the season on Friday and is now hitting .304/.448/.696/.1.144 with eight runs scored, three homers, five RBIs, and six walks over his last six games
SS Francisco Lindor is now hitting .360/.448/.760/.1.208 with eight runs scored, three home runs, five RBIs, two stolen bases, and three walks over his last six games
C Francisco Alvarez is hitting .375/.412/.1.000/.1.412 with three home runs, five runs scored, one double, eight RBIs, and one walk over his last six games
Who’s Cold? 🧊
The Mets have now lost 14 of their last 16 games, while blowing 11 leads in their last seven games
The Mets are now 19-34 over their last 53 games - only the Nationals have a worse record (19-35) over that same span
LHP Sean Manaea has now allowed a total of 18 earned runs over his last five outings
RHP Ryan Helsley has now allowed a total of five earned runs in his last three outings
Over his last six games, DH / 3B Mark Vientos is hitting just .130/.125/.217/.342 with five strikeouts and no home runs
Play of the Game 🙃
The Mets were leading 6-5 entering the seventh inning. It was up to the bullpen to protect that lead.
Of course, keeping in line with how things have gone over this current stretch, that didn’t happen.
Ryan Helsley came in and continued his recent struggles. The bleeding started when he allowed a one-out RBI double to Eugenio Suárez, having already given up a leadoff double, which tied the game.
Helsley was quickly pulled, but the incoming Brooks Raley was powerless to stop the Seattle surge and the Mets left the seventh bloodied and down 10-6, having allowed five runs.
Down on the Farm 🌾
SS Jett Williams (No. 2 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4 (6-for-15 in four games with Triple-A Syracuse)
LHP Jonathan Santucci (No. 14 prospect, Double-A): 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
3B Jacob Reimer (No. 6 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI,
CF A.J. Ewing (No. 7 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 SB
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (64-58) vs. Mariners (68-55)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Nolan McLean (MLB Debut) vs. RHP Bryan Woo (10-6, 3.08 ERA)
When: 4:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
Friday sure felt like the point of no return for the 2025 Mets… ✍️
Another night, another crushing loss for the New York Mets. Rinse, repeat.
Man, last night sure felt like another nail in the coffin for the Mets’ chances of making the playoffs and saving this season, which is evaporating into dust before our very eyes.
Now, I’m not ready to declare the season dead just yet. I’m not there quite yet.
With 40 games remaining, and with the chasing Reds going up against the red-hot Brewers this weekend, there is still time for the Mets to right the ship and lock down a playoff spot.
After all, things can change quickly in baseball. And this team, despite what you may think of it right now, does have a lot of talent.
But, with that said, my faith in this team’s ability to do just that is fading at a rapid pace by the day.
And, in the wake of yet another self-enforced collapse on Friday, I am starting to resign myself to the sobering reality that this team just has too many fatal flaws to try and fix in the little time remaining.
I mean, the Mets are inventing new ways to lose every single night at this point. They got nine runs from the offense on Friday and yet still lost the game. Francisco Lindor is starting to wake up offensively, but that matters little when your bullpen continues to crap the bed.
Ryan Helsley, one of the ballclub’s marquee additions at the Trade Deadline, started the bleeding on Friday night and has now allowed nine runs (five earned) over his last 5 1/3 innings. Brooks Raley compounded the damage by allowing three earned runs to gift the Mariners a 10-6 lead, a deficit that proved impossible to claw back.
As a result, the Mets have now embarrassingly blown 11 leads over their last seven games. If it isn’t starters laying Godzilla-sized eggs on the mound, it is relievers failing to come up clutch in the biggest spots. The pitching staff combined have been blowing leads in every single way imaginable.
And, thanks to two more blown leads in Friday night’s game, the Mets have now blown a lead in seven consecutive games for just the second time in the last 17 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only other time it happened was in 2023 - and we all know how that season ended. New York finished under .500 and missed the playoffs.
Unless something drastic changes, history could be about to repeat itself.
Given what we witnessed Friday, do we really believe that this team has what it takes to stage a dramatic turnaround and salvage the season?
Again, I’m losing faith in that notion more and more with each passing day.
This team just looks lost and out of ideas when it comes to stopping this current slide. And this isn’t a tough stretch at this point - this is a lot more than that. This is what bad baseball teams do.
Bad baseball teams are prone to taking 50 steps back after taking one positive step forward. When one thing goes right - like the offense scoring nine runs - 10 other things will go wrong.
Bad baseball teams find ways to lose night after night after night.
And that’s exactly what the Mets are doing right now, and have been doing for a considerable stretch.
Even the offense needs to take some blame for Friday night’s crusher. Yes, the lineup technically did its job by piling on nine runs, but the heart of the lineup also couldn’t come up with a clutch hit in the ninth and build on Francisco Alvarez’s huge three-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth. The Mets also went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving four runners stranded on base.
All in all, every single part of this team looks cooked.
Manager Carlos Mendoza and his players can keep saying that they believe and that the turnaround is coming - in fairness, what else are they going to say? - but words are just empty promises and platitudes at this point. This team needs to actually lead with actions, and they are rapidly running out of time to do that.
They are doing the exact opposite, doing nothing but demonstrating they are a bad team with terrible flaws which could’ve in part been addressed last winter, which could’ve in part been addressed two weeks ago, and they were not and they are now irrevocable.
And, in the wake of witnessing another epic meltdown on Friday, it sure feels like they have already reached the point of no return.
It is going to take a Mets miracle to save the 2025 season, and I don’t think this team has one in them.
Around the League 🚩
LHP Clayton Kershaw held the Padres to just one run across six innings as the Dodgers beat San Diego 3-2 to snap a four-game losing streak
INF Trevor Story hit a walk-off RBI single to help the Red Sox edge past the Marlins 2-1 and seal a league-leading 10th walk-off win of the year
Rookie RHP Brandon Young took a perfect game into the eighth as the Orioles shutout the Astros 7-0
Phillies RHP Jhoan Duran was carted off the field after taking a comebacker to his right foot, but X-rays came back negative
DH Christian Yelich went 4-for-5 with five RBIs to help the Brewers wipe out a seven-run deficit and beat the Reds 10-8 for a 13th straight win
Why is it this franchise does things that no other franchise ever does? Is there some sort of curse that was made that we don’t know about? The Mets have the richest owner in professional sports and since he purchased the team spent more money than anyone since and has nothing to show for it. Sure, they made a magical run last year but this franchise can never sustain greatness. It’s not even like the whole team fell to injuries which would be at least an excuse for what they are doing right now. The talent is here. This on paper is maybe one of the most talented teams the Mets have had EVER! To be playing like this is just egregious but really is and it’s a huge slap in the face to us fans. We were treated to best start since the ‘86 team and have been gaslighted since. The daily mantra from them is we are too good and will turn this thing around. I started to become worried with the sweep in Pittsburgh. I saw lack of focus and no heart on that trip and it has permeated through the clubhouse and has taken hold. This hope we are supposed to have is fruitless. This team is cooked and us fans have witnessed it. It’s a franchise wide collapse and we will be feeling this one forever. I personally cannot recall another franchise failing like this after the start this team had. I’m sure I’m wrong on that but this one has pissed me off especially when I see that smug face on Stearns who assembled this team and went cheap on the rotation. I’ll be damned if I forget this one for a while.
The Reds blew a big lead and stopped scoring, though it was against the Brewers juggernaut. The Reds were 5-5. They have a tough schedule. However, the Mets don't have an easy schedule. The Mets cannot keep on going 1-9. The first step is mediocre baseball!
The Blackburn move is not surprising since he just pitched and is a borderline player. Nonetheless, he showed an ability to give the team innings. Montas was adequate last night. But someone who can give length like Blackburn is something the Mets are going to need.
I think the plan is to gut through this without changing much. But at some point, is that a great idea? What is the plan? Eventually, Megill comes back to be your fifth or sixth starter? Fans who want to "see the kids" (or "young studs," to quote Gary Cohen) sound reasonable.
I think this team needs a shock to the system. Someone (or more than one) unexpected should be gone. And, yeah, it might turn out the Mets somehow manage to hang on to the third WC spot. It is not like their opposition is strong. They are really working at it and STILL have the spot.