Nearly every move this year has made the Mets worse
Also - the Mets lost again and are now teetering on the edge of falling out of a playoff spot
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets slumped to their seventh consecutive loss thanks to a non-competitive 8-3 blowout to the Rangers on Friday night (box)
RHP Jonah Tong suffered a nightmare start and never recovered after allowing six earned runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout over just 0.2 innings
LHP Gregory Soto allowed two more earned runs in the seventh inning, the only runs allowed in an otherwise solid effort by the bullpen
C Francisco Álvarez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third, but that was the only real highlight as the bats remained ice cold
The Mets recorded four outs to start the game, making it 29 consecutive outs before DH Mark Vientos broke that streak in the second
New York now has three seven-game losing streaks in 2025 - the first time in 45 years that has happened. The Mets are also just four games over .500 for the first time since April 16
Playoff Race 🏁
Man, oh man, what a mess the Mets have created for themselves.
Following a seventh consecutive loss on Friday, coupled with a walk-off win for the Giants, the Mets are now just a half game ahead of San Francisco for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
However, it is important to remember that the Mets do own the tiebreaker over the Giants.
Meanwhile, both the Reds and the Diamondbacks lost on Friday, meaning that the Mets remain 1.5 games ahead of Cincinnati, and three games ahead of Arizona.
Per Fangraphs, the Mets have a 73% chance of making the 2025 playoffs, down from 78.1% the previous day.
Play of the Game 🙃
This is an easy one.
Making just his third Major League start, Jonah Tong was tasked with leading the way in trying to snap a six-game losing streak.
However, putting a rookie in such a big spot wasn’t a smart move by the Mets, and it put Tong in a totally unfair situation.
Tong endured a nightmare start to the game, putting traffic on the bases early. In a jam, he threw two straight baseballs with dire consequences.
The second of which, which came with the bases loaded and two outs, resulted in Cody Freeman hitting an RBI single to score two more runners. The Mets were suddenly in a four-run hole with the first inning still not over.
Tong would allow two more runs to score before being pulled from the game, a game that was all but over at that point with the Mets unable to recover from a nightmare start.
Who’s Cold? 🥶
The Mets are 31-48 since June 13 - making them one of the worst teams in all of baseball over that stretch
LHP Gregory Soto now owns an ugly 9.45 ERA in his last seven appearances - he’s allowed seven earned runs over that stretch
As a team, the Mets are hitting just .196/.250/.326/.576 over their last seven games
Over the last seven games, Mets pitching owns a 6.95 ERA having allowed a total of 44 earned runs and 10 homers in 57 innings
Over his last seven games, LF Brandon Nimmo is hitting just .120/.179/.120/.299 with eight strikeouts
Over his last five games, CF Cedric Mullins is hitting just .182/.308/.182/.490 with four strikeouts
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Kodai Senga (Triple-A): 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
3B Jacob Reimer (No. 6 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
OF Nick Morabito (No. 16 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4, RBI, BB, SB
SCORES
Single-A STL | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (76-72) vs. Rangers (78-70)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Corbin (7-9, 4.36 ERA)
When: 4:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Somehow, nearly EVERY move has made the Mets worse! ✍️
I don’t know if the Mets are going to make it to the playoffs or not. Right now, they can’t even win a damn game. Hell, they’re not even close to winning a game right now. They look lifeless, they look like they feel sorry for themselves, they look like they’re just waiting for that shoe to drop every single night.
Most nights, it’s falling right away. But others, something akin to a kick in the groin happens, which just sucks the life out of the entire dugout.
Maybe today’s the day it all changes, and they can go on a run good enough to at least salvage what has been a bludgeoning over the last three months and at least get in.
Now, of course, I’m aware that once you get into the postseason, anything can happen. I mean, the 2024 Mets are a testament to that.
But it certainly doesn’t look like this team can get past the first three days of the playoffs, let alone beyond game 162 right now.
Whether they get in or not, major changes are needed. If they get in, I am worried that could be enough to convince the front office to double down on their current approach for 2026 - that could end up being the worst possible scenario for this franchise.
Allow me to explain why.
The Mets can’t approach the 2026 season the same way they approached the 2025 season. They simply can’t afford to construct a roster in the same way. They just can’t if they are really serious about bringing a championship to Queens.
For starters, president of baseball operations David Stearns has to show he’s flexible by moving away from his disastrous pitching philosophy. It may have worked in Milwaukee, and sure, he may have gotten lucky with it in 2024, but it sure as hell didn’t work in 2025. Yes, there’s inherent risk to spending huge dollars on a true ace. But there is also massive risk in investing valuable money in a string of pitchers who may or may not have some upside. Stearns has missed more than he’s hit with that strategy after two years at the helm.
It is just my opinion, but I actually think there is less risk in going out and signing an established ace like a Corbin Burnes or a Max Fried. At least you know what you are getting with those kinds of guys.
The current philosophy just isn’t sustainable. It is simply going to lead to this team either missing the playoffs or flaming out early in October. I mean, it is totally unacceptable for a so-called contender to be pinning all of its hopes on three rookie starters. It is unfair on Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat to be thrown into big game after big game with so much on the line.
Expecting three rookies to be the savior isn’t a good plan.
It is a flawed one that could have serious repercussions down the line. Look at what happened with Tong on Friday night. He should never have been asked to pitch in that spot, and he looked and sounded like a wreck after the game. More of those kinds of outings could risk really hurting and derailing Tong’s future development. And that goes for McLean and Sproat too.
There also needs to be a re-think when it comes to the offense.
This lineup needed another bat before the season started and at the trade deadline. The front office ignored the potential problems at third base in spring training, although eventually Brett Baty started playing better and standing out there to an extent. But that didn’t eliminate the need for another bat and Stearns failed to address that at the deadline, settling for Cedric Mullins who predictably hasn’t helped so far. The so-called “super bullpen” has been a complete bust as well.
It is actually quite remarkable that every move Stearns made at the deadline has actually conspired to make this team worse!
And when you look back to last November, the only moves that have truly worked out have been the Juan Soto and Pete Alonso signings. That’s it.
The moves to bring back Jesse Winker and add José Siri back in the offseason have failed. Ryne Stanek has been terrible, AJ Minter has missed most of the season, Griffin Canning has missed half the season, Clay Holmes might be demonstrating he needs to back to the bullpen, Sean Manaea has been awful and hurt, Frankie Montas was hurt, bad, hurt again and is now likely never going to pitch for the Mets again.
Look at that list! And that doesn’t even include the problems with Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and the 40+ other pitchers the Mets have used this season.
Furthermore, something also needs to be done about this team’s problem with clutch hitting, particularly with runners in scoring position. Aside from a brief resurgence in August, the Mets have stunk when it comes to coming up with the big hit in the biggest moments. Now, that’s more of an execution problem, people will have us believe “clutch” hitting and performance with runners in scoring position are small sample anomalies both positively and negatively, and maybe the coaches have to take some blame too. But it needs to be addressed, and ownership and the front office need to get ruthless when it comes to holding players and coaches accountable.
And that brings me to my final point.
I had some pushback to my editorial on Thursday when I questioned this team’s lack of heart and fight, attributing it to this latest losing streak. There were some fans who preferred to blame all of the issues above. Now, why they are correct, I still stand by my claim that there is something dramatically off with this team and the overall mentality. What that is exactly I’m not sure, but the eye test will tell you over the last seven games alone that this team has played with no pulse, zero urgency, and very, very little heart. And that’s a problem.
This team just doesn’t have the “it” factor or the intangibles needed to be truly great, and I will die on that hill. I mean, look at them! They’re 0-64 when trailing after eight innings this season. They have not mounted a single ninth inning comeback all year, and there are two weeks left in the season!
Now, how you go about fixing a lack of heart and soul is above my pay grade, but something will need to be addressed given that this team has a history of choking down the stretch. Should that happen again, maybe Stearns will need to be uber-aggressive in blowing up some of the current core. I mean, how many chances should they get?
All in all, this is a mess. Whether they make it or not, there needs to a fork-lift in the roster building strategy. In the end, Stearns, Cohen and the entire front office is as smart as the record suggests they are. It’s as simple as that. And if they flop, which I fear they might, the only way they can own it is to own it and evolve the strategy.
Even if that strategy assumes more financial risk.
Around the League 🚩
OF Aaron Judge hit his 362nd career home run to move past Joe DiMaggio (361) for sole possession of fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time home run list in a 4-1 win over Boston
C Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Giants to a big-time 5-1 win over the Dodgers
Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal left his team’s 8-2 loss to the Marlins in the fourth inning with left side tightness
The Brewers became the first team to reach 90 wins this season thanks to an 8-2 win over the Cardinals
Yes! Stearns did a terrible job building the 2025 team. but don’t forget he also did a terrible job building the 2024 team. Remember all these additions that contributed nothing? JD Martinez, Joey Wendle, Zack Short, Jake Diekman, Adrian Houser, Jorge Lopez, Michael Tonkin, Yohan Ramirez….30% of the opening roster
TBF, a few things went right. Canning was a nice pick-up, for instance. He got hurt. That isn't really on Stearns. Canning is a pitcher that a winning team has over the season.
What is on him is not picking up a starter at the deadline. Supposed to be hard. (1) Other teams managed (2) He's special, right? Holmes was a nice pick-up, too.
Kudos to the coach who taught them to steal so much. That deserves a special note.
How must Reds fans feel? The Mets are giving them the postseason almost on a platter. Yes, the Reds did not have an easy schedule. Can't win at will. But had to beat the As. Lost 3-0.
Anyway, I'll be blunt. At this point, I don't want them to make it to the playoffs. Damn, the team has been horrible since June. It hurts my sense of fairness on some level that this team should somehow make it to the playoffs. I know, especially with the third wild card, life doesn't quite work that way. Still.
And, yes, if they manage to get there, it will encourage more of the same.