The Mets have no one to blame but themselves
In the wake of being swept by Cleveland, and following another lifeless offensive performance, Mets players now have to take a lot of accountability...
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were swept by the Guardians after losing 4-1 at Citi Field on Wednesday afternoon (box)
RF Juan Soto hit a solo home run in the ninth to break up RHP Gavin Williams’ no-hitter, saving total humiliation in the process
LHP David Peterson endured a tough afternoon, allowing four earned runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across six innings
The Mets have now lost four straight, eight of their last nine, and each of their last three series
1B Pete Alonso was named the Mets’ 2025 Heart and Hustle Award Winner, given to the player who shows a true passion for the game
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Justin Hagenman recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Dom Hamel optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
This week’s episode of The Just Mets Podcast is unlocked & free for all! Listen as The Athletic’s Will Sammon talks about the club’s action (and inaction) at the trade deadline.
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets lost - again - but caught a break with the Phillies also losing to the Orioles on Wednesday.
As such, the Mets are still 2.5 games out of first place in the National League East.
The Mets are now 3.5 games back of the Cubs for the first Wild Card spot, and a game behind the Padres for the second Wild Card berth. They are still three games ahead of the Reds for a playoff spot.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have an 86.3 percent chance of making the playoffs in 2025:
Who’s Cold 🧊
RF Juan Soto is hitting just .185/.313/.315 with 12 strikeouts over his last 15 games
1B Pete Alonso is hitting just .193/.234/.421 with 15 strikeouts over his last 15 games
LF Brandon Nimmo is hitting just .192/.323/.231 with 12 strikeouts and no home runs over his last seven games
Between June 22 and August 7, the Mets are hitting just .224 as a team - ranked dead last in all of baseball
The Mets have lost eight of their last nine games - they are averaging just 3.8 runs per game over that stretch
Since June 13, New York has produced a .674 OPS - the third-worst OPS in Major League Baseball during that stretch
Play of the Game 🌟
Things got pretty ugly in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game.
With Cleveland starter Gavin Williams throwing a gem of a no-hitter, the top of the Mets lineup came up with a chance to shift the tide and change the entire tenor of the game.
Spoiler alert - it didn’t work out that way.
Instead, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso all grounded out in what was just a miserable 1-2-3 inning.
All three at-bats were uncompetitive, leading to some inside Citi Field to vent their frustration by booing.
It was deserved.
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Carson Benge (No. 4 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 7 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR
DH Eli Serrano III (No. 16 prospect, High-A): 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB
LF Kevin Villavicencio (Single-A): 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B, 2 SB
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
The Mets are off on Thursday and will head to Milwaukee ready to open up a three-game series against the red-hot Brewers on Friday
This current downward spiral is ALL on the players… ✍️
Mets fans are officially out for blood in the wake of another embarrassing, humiliating loss on Wednesday afternoon.
The Mets were swept by the Guardians after putting up just one hit - yes, you read that right - in yet another miserable effort by this stinking offense.
Believe it or not, however, it could have been worse.
Guardians righty Gavin Williams was having the game of his life, mowing through a lifeless Mets lineup with laughable ease. As a result, he carried Cleveland’s potential first no-hitter in 44 years into the ninth inning.
However, with one out, Juan Soto ensured that the day wasn’t a complete bust for the offense by blasting his 26th year of the homer.
Complete embarrassment was avoided.
Just.
Regardless, it is hard not to be pissed at the Mets right now, and tensions are only rising with a deep postseason run looking increasingly unlikely for a team that just can’t get out of its own way.
And, with the offense reaching humiliating new lows, the calls for change are only growing louder.
And rightly so.
But, in reality, giving the fanbase what they want by firing hitting coach Eric Chavez and bringing in a fresh face with only 47 games remaining is beyond pointless. It won’t change anything.
Plus, by all accounts, Chavez is incredibly well-liked and respected in that building, so I would be stunned if he were to be let go anytime soon.
Sure, firing Chavez would send a statement, and it would make it look like the Mets are actually trying to be proactive in curing what is wrong with this ailing offense.
It would just be folly though.
At the end of the day, the offensive struggles, and the fact that this team is diving headfirst into a very dark abyss, are on the players.
No one else. Period.
After all, it is the players who put together a series of uncompetitive at-bats on Wednesday. Not the coaches. And it is the players who have continued to fail to execute day after day after day over this 46-game stretch.
This is more of a player problem than it is a coaching issue.
And it is long past due time that this current group of players took some damn accountability.
Wednesday was just unacceptable, especially for a team that’s supposed to be a World Series contender.
Between the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game and the ninth inning of Wednesday’s contest, the offense went 13 whole innings without recording a single hit. That’s just not good enough for any Major League offense, yet alone one that has as much talent as the Mets’ offense. Fourteen straight batters went down in order as lousy at-bat after lousy at-bat piled up.
After the top of the lineup went 1-2-3 on groundouts in the sixth inning, the Citi Field crowd let their frustration be known. Boos rained down and things got pretty ugly. And it was justified. Francisco Lindor, Soto, and Pete Alonso all produced at-bats so bad and so uncompetitive it made you want to throw the TV out of the nearest window. I really hate to say this because I’m sure they do but, at times over this stretch, the top of that lineup just look like they don’t care when at the plate.
As Michael Baron wrote on Wednesday, this lineup has no pulse right now. There is no purpose, no fight, no passion, and seemingly no clue how to get the train back on the tracks.
And that’s all on the players.
The fact that the players themselves are now admitting they are struggling to make adjustments is beyond concerning. How can you fix something if you don’t know how? This team is lost offensively, and time is running out to right the ship. I mean, the eye test and the stats tell the entire story right now. This offense - deemed to be the strength of this team - is just unwatchable. The 13 consecutive innings without a hit tied a franchise record (the other instance came in April 2024), while the Mets have averaged just 3.8 runs per game over the past nine games. Furthermore, heading into Wednesday, New York had produced a .674 OPS since June 13 - the third-worst OPS during that stretch. Only the Pirates (.655) and the Guardians (.665) have worst marks.
Coaches can pass on all the information and scouting reports they want - it is up to the players to go out there and perform and produce results. And they just aren’t.
Again, while the coaches have to shoulder some of the blame, this is a player-driven issue. Per Abby Mastracco of New York Daily News, coaches and analysts craft approaches to each hitter’s different strengths and weaknesses. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to the lineup as a whole. Therefore, the onus is on the players to actually execute once they are at the plate.
And they are doing the exact opposite of executing right now.
Sure, I still believe major philosophy changes will have to be made in the offseason as it pertains to the overall hitting approach. But, with that said, I’m now inclined to believe that the players just aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. I mean Soto looks absolutely vexed when hitting with RISP, and his problems are a microcosm of the team’s overall struggles - that just shouldn’t be the case.
There is also no way that big-time hitters like Soto, Alonso, Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo should be this cold and this hit-and-miss this late into the season. There is just no way. They are all better than that. Plus, the likes of Soto, Lindor, and Alonso should be elevating their games right now and putting the entire team on their backs en route to the playoffs. They aren’t doing that, either.
You can scream and shout at the coaches all you want. It may even make you feel a little better. You can also get mad at the front office for not adding more offense at the Trade Deadline. I’m with you on that.
But, no matter what way you slice it, it is this group of players that have to step up and take responsibility and be held accountable.
This current downward spiral is on them, and they have no one else to blame apart from themselves for getting into this mess.
This lineup, as flawed as it is, is better than the hot mess we are seeing day after day after day. Soto, Lindor, Alonso, Nimmo, and the rest are also a lot better than some of the disgraceful at-bats we’re witnessing right now.
Unless this group of players can get it together, figure out their crap, and perform how we all expect them to, this season is going to end very, very, very soon and will go down as one of the most disappointing years in franchise history.
And that stink will be on the players - nobody else.
They will have to own it, wear it, and live with the damage to their reputations.
After all, it is the players who go out on the field and perform, not the coaches. And it is this group of players who have created this stinking mess.
Now they have to figure a way to get out of the hole they’ve dug or live with the consequences.
Around the League 🚩
The Red Sox signed rookie OF Roman Anthony to an eight-year extension, which could eventually be worth up to $230 million
Jen Pawol will make history this weekend as MLB’s first-ever female umpire during the Marlins-Braves series this weekend
Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani hit a mammoth two-run bomb to record his 1,000th career Major League hit in style, while also striking out eight on the mound
1B Paul Goldschmidt’s pinch-hit home run helped the Yankees to snap a five-game losing streak in a 3-2 win over the Rangers
Trade Deadline additions RF Ryan O’Hearn hit a late home run and RHP Mason Miller earned the save to help the Padres rally to beat the Diamondbacks 3-2
The Brewers became the first team to 70 wins in the Majors thanks to 1B Andrew Vaughn’s home run and two RBIs in a 5-4 win over the Braves
“Awake, arise or be for ever fall’n.”
“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost
#LGM
Last season JD Martinez apparently helped some of the players - Vientos for one. I’m wondering if the players are listening to Soto and trying to let the ball get deeper but they don’t have quick enough hands to make that approach work? Is that why swing speeds are down? I’m grasping at straws here lol