The Mets' other problem that can't be ignored

Sloppy defense reared its ugly head once again in one of the season's worst losses

Drew Van Buskirk

Sep 21, 2025

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets lost one of the most frustrating games of the season on Saturday, falling to Washington 5-3 (box)
RHP Nolan McLean had another strong outing, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out six in his five innings of work
McLean allowed a run on a wild pitch, but he also wasn’t helped out by his defense, with both RF Juan Soto and 1B Pete Alonso committing errors in the second inning
Mark Vientos played momentary hero in the eighth inning with the Mets down 3-0, delivering a clutch two-out, two-run pinch hit double
Soto had a rollercoaster of a game: his early error allowed a run to score, then he tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, then he made the last out in the 11th on a called third strike
The Mets’ bullpen was fantastic until the very last minute, when RHP Tyler Rogers gave up an inside-the-park two-run homer to Nationals rookie Daylen Lile
Mets hitters tallied plenty of bases, but few of them yielded anything productive; they left 13 runners stranded and went 3-for-16 with RISP, another familiar pain point

Roster Moves 📰

RHP Wander Suero was designated for assignment
LHP Richard Lovelady had his contract selected from Syracuse
The Baltimore Orioles claimed RHP Dom Hamel off waivers

Injury Updates 🏥

CF Tyrone Taylor (left hamstring strain) will play his final rehab game today and is expected to be activated for the upcoming Cubs series
RHP Tylor Megill (right elbow sprain) is getting a consult on Tommy John surgery, per Carlos Mendoza

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Playoff Race 🏁

The Reds beat the Cubs again yesterday, and the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies, while the Giants fell to Los Angeles again.

The Mets now maintain just a one-game lead over Cincinnati for the final Wild Card spot, and sit just two games ahead of Arizona.

Additionally, the Padres beat the White Sox on Saturday, putting the Mets four games behind San Diego for the second Wild Card.

As a reminder:

The Mets own the tiebreaker against the Giants (season series: 4-2) - if they finish with identical records, the Mets would finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Giants
The Mets do not own the tiebreaker against the Reds (season series: 2-4) - if they finish with identical records, the Reds would win the higher seed or eliminate the Mets
The Mets and Diamondbacks finished their season series tied (3-3), but the Diamondbacks maintain a better record against the NL West than the Mets do against the NL East, so Arizona would either finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Mets
The Mets own the tiebreaker against the Cardinals (season series: 5-2) - if they finish with identical records, the Mets would finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Cardinals
The Padres own the tiebreaker over the Mets (season series: 2-4) - if they finish with identical records, the Padres would finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Mets

Seven games remain.

Per Fangraphs, the Mets’ 2025 playoff odds have dropped sharply to just 75.9%.

Play of the Game ⭐️

Self-explanatory.

After mounting an exciting comeback effort in the ninth inning, Tyler Rogers was called upon in the 11th inning to maintain the 3-3 tie.

That is not what happened.

With one out and a ghost runner aboard, Rogers floated an 84 mph sinker straight down the middle to Washington’s Daylen Lile. Lile’s MLB career has gotten off to an excellent start (.814 OPS with 7 homers, 13 doubles, and 11 triples in 85 games), and he showed off his speed after skying Rogers’ sinker to center.

The ball sailed over the head of CF Cedric Mullins and took an awkward carom off the wall. Any play Mullins may have had was busted instantly, and the Nationals took a 5-3 lead.

Stat of the Day 📊

Juan Soto stole his 35th base of the season — he joins Barry Bonds as the only other player in MLB history with 40+ HR, 35+ SB & 100+ walks in a season (SlangsOnSports on X)

Who’s Hot? 🥵

Pete Alonso has been on a tear recently, batting .423/.500/.923 over his last seven games. He hit his 38th double of the season yesterday, further extending his career high, alongside the second-highest RBI total of his career

Down on the Farm 🌾

OF Luis De Los Santos (Triple-A): 2-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
RHP Justin Hagenman (Triple-A): 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
RHP Kevin Herget (Triple-A): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 6 K

SCORES

Triple-A SYR

Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (80-75) vs. Nationals (63-92)

Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (2-3, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Irvin (8-13, 5.76 ERA)

When: 1:40 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY | MLBN (Out-of-market only)

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Defense: the Mets’ less-than-silent killer ✍️

The Mets’ woes have been many this season – a boom-or-bust, at times anemic offense; a steadily declining veteran pitching staff currently being buoyed by rookies; catastrophically poor performance from trade acquisitions…I could go on (and will).

Yet for all the complaining I’ve done about the issues listed above, I’ve been less vocally critical of their defensive failings.

That changes today.

It’s no secret that the universe of defensive metrics is a murky, and often controversial, one: some stats are better for certain positions than others, and many (if not all) of them are imperfect.

Still, the eye test alone has told us all season long that these Mets can be downright derelict in their defense. Three prominent defensive metrics — Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), Outs Above Average (OAA), and Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP) — all agree that this is a defensively deficient baseball team.

Before diving into the Mets’ results, let’s quickly level set on what these stats measure.

Defensive Runs Saved (DRS): Created by Sports Info Solutions, DRS uses a combination of video and zone-based analysis to determine the number of runs saved or allowed by a fielder compared to league average.
Outs Above Average (OAA): OAA is a Statcast metric that analyzes the probability of making a play based on distance, direction, time, and hang time, then credits or debits the fielder based on whether they converted it.
Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP): Via Baseball Prospectus, DRP adjusts for park factors, distribution of opportunities, and additional factors to estimate how many runs a player deserved to prevent. Where DRS tells you what actually happened and OAA shows how difficult the plays were, DRP seeks to determine isolated, real defensive value.

Together, these three data points tell the most complete story about a team’s defensive issues this season, both on a team level and a positional level.

So, what do they say about the Mets?

Defensive Runs Saved (DRS)

The Mets have hovered in the low positive range in team DRS in 2025 — around +24, which has them firmly in the middle of the pack (14th). That sounds solid, but it warrants a little deeper digging.

Yes, the Mets’ defense has undeniable points of excellence: their catching corps (led by the torrid Luis Torrens) is arguably MLB’s best defensive unit, boasting the second-best positional DRS (+12) in the league alongside its best caught-stealing rate (37%). Brett Baty (+4) has been a bright spot floating around the infield, and Brandon Nimmo (+3) has also graded out well in left field. Their efforts show up as plus-runs in the team total.

But first base, shortstop, and right field have all dragged down DRS…not what you want from three of your four franchise cornerstones. Alonso’s continued struggles (-8), Francisco Lindor’s uncharacteristic sloppiness (-5, career worst), and Juan Soto’s limited range (-4) have been glaring issues all season long, and the team’s collective DRS reflects that. A +24 mark confirms that, while the Mets haven’t been egregiously disastrous defensively, they’ve done little more than offset elite catching with below-average contributions elsewhere.

Outs Above Average (OAA)

Ok, so the DRS results feel pretty definitive on their own…but there’s more to this story, specifically that of athleticism and this team’s collective defensive range. That’s where OAA comes in.

The outfield is the biggest culprit in this case. Soto, despite his clean-until-yesterday error column, ranks dead last among right fielders in OAA (-10). Unsurprisingly, it’s a range issue: Statcast shows that Soto has struggled on balls in the gap, nor has he posed a particular threat to runners with his arm. Though catching routine fly balls is good and expected, failure to complete lower-probability plays compounds quickly in OAA. Left and center fields have fared better in this department thanks primarily to Nimmo and Tyrone Taylor, but right field is functionally a defensive black hole.

In the infield, Alonso once again looks worse in OAA than some stats may suggest — his league-leading scoop total doesn’t help him here. Lindor’s error frequency and his difficulty converting routine plays have resulted in a rather pedestrian OAA (+3). Baty has really been the only steady plus-defender in the infield group, reinforcing our collective eye test yet again: his glove is the best it’s ever been.

Considering the above, we can safely conclude that the Mets’ season-long defensive woes haven’t just been sustained bouts of bad luck; they just haven’t consistently gotten to the balls or made the tougher plays they need to.

Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP)

If DRS is our ‘what’ and OAA is our ‘how’, then DRP is our ‘why’.

To help further illustrate the specific impact each position has on a team’s defensive success, DRP accounts for park context, quality of opponents, and luck in where balls are hit. Essentially, DRP attempts to confirm on-field observations in the most unbiased and context-neutral manner possible. The league average is 0.

Here’s what it tells us about the Mets:

C: +6.0 DRP — Elite. Luis Torrens’ arm has been the league’s best at stopping base stealers, and both Torrens and Hayden Senger have had solid framing seasons. Francisco Alvarez’s injury-plagued season has resulted in a statistically less-than-stellar year in this and most defensive departments.
LF: +3.7 DRP, CF: +1.2 DRP — Solid enough. Nimmo & Co. may not be the most rock-solid outfield unit in the league, but they’re doing their jobs and not regularly hurting the team with their gloves.
P: +0.1 DRP — As expected. Pitching staffs almost always grade out neutral in this department, so breaking even here is to be expected.
2B: -0.4 DRP, 1B: -0.9 DRP — Not great, but not abysmal. Alonso’s scoops keep him afloat, but errors and range hold him back. Jeff McNeil, Brett Baty, and Luisangel Acuna have all turned in positive DRS years manning second base, indicating they’re making all the plays they should be, but none of them are doing much beyond that; it’s really McNeil dragging the rest down here.
SS: -2.7 DRP — If you’d told me Lindor’s defense this year would be debatably the worst it’s ever been, I’d have laughed. Alas, his -2.7 DRP is the second-worst mark of his career, and we’ve all seen it on display as he’s struggled to convert both routine and difficult plays into outs. From barely-missed line drives to a steadily declining double play success rate, it’s safe to say there isn’t much of a Gold Glove case here this year.
3B: -3.0 DRP — Despite the best efforts of Baty, the overall defensive impact from the hot corner hasn’t been positive, led largely by the known shortcomings of Mark Vientos.
RF: -8.3 DRP — No surprise. Soto’s defense, even without errors, is allowing extra bases, which are regularly turning into runs.

This excellent article from Baseball Prospectus breaks down more deeply the relationship between DRP and team defense, but the two primary points are: ‘catching is king’, and the shortstop position is as valuable as ever.

The Mets’ numbers above reinforce those points: the catching is carrying a lot of the load, and Lindor’s off-year on the field has been felt sharply.

In summary, DRS, OAA, and DRP converge on the same verdict: the 2025 Mets are fundamentally lacking. They are among the bottom 10 in team OAA, and have the fourth-worst among current playoff contenders (keyword: current).

I know there are plenty of other things to be concerned with: the pitching plan is still suspect, the offense is as unpredictably hot and cold as they’ve been all season, and this team is still without a win when trailing in the 8th.

All this with seven games to play and a playoff spot on the line. Nice and calming!

No, the Mets’ defense may not be its biggest problem, but when it’s bad, it costs them games. You’d hope a fundamental issue is one of the easier ones to get control of somewhat quickly…but this team has a habit of defying favorable odds.

Let’s see what these last seven games have in store. I don’t need to remind anyone of the stakes.

Around the League 🚩

The Guardians are the hottest team in baseball, winning their 10th-straight contest to come within one game of the AL Central lead and snatch a playoff spot in the process
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homered in the same game for the 57th time in their tenure as teammates. The Yankees’ 6-1 win narrowed the Blue Jays’ AL East lead to just two games; Toronto owns the tiebreaker
Shohei Ohtani tied Kyle Schwarber for the NL homer lead with his 53rd mash as the Dodgers took down the Giants, 7-5
Cal Raleigh hit his 57th homer of the season, passing Ken Griffey Jr. for the most single-season homers in Mariner history
Mike Trout joined the 400 home run club with a near 500-foot missile, his 22nd homer of the season; this is Trout’s first 20+ homer season since his 40-homer campaign in 2022. Trout joins Giancarlo Stanton as the second active big leaguer with at least 400 homers