The Mets must have some sort of industrial-grade shovel because they are finding new ways to hit rock bottom seemingly every week.
The latest calamity came on Sunday when they blew a five-run lead to get swept away by the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, which included the squandering of a 6-5 lead in the eighth, and Isaac Collins’ walk-off home run off closer Edwin Diaz in the ninth.
So the Mets’ hole grows more cavernous, and all the more disastrous. They have lost seven straight games and 11 of their last 12 to see a once slender lead atop the National League East descend into a 5.5-game deficit behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.
“It’s hard to describe,” Mendoza said. “Tough, frustrating. But we’ve got to turn the page. We have to keep going. We have to find a way to start getting victories. That wasn’t a good showing. They pretty much outplayed us.”
At this rate, the belief feels disingenuous, even if that’s all the Mets can really cling on to at this point.
Their big bats have been non-existent for weeks, even months, now.
Francisco Lindor is batting .191 with a .602 OPS in his last 50 games dating back to June 12. While Juan Soto had a streak of home runs in three consecutive games snapped on Sunday, he’s batting .189 with a .757 OPS in his last 25 games.
Pete Alonso, who is on the precipice of franchise-record-breaking home run No. 253, is batting .168 with a .593 OPS in his last 26 games. Brandon Nimmo, once an on-base machine, has struck out 26 times in his last 58 at-bats and has a .476 OPS (.269 on-base percentage).
“We can go on a run. We’ve still got time,” Nimmo said. “It just takes putting it together, playing some good baseball. I don’t think the division is slipping away. We’re still within shot. This team specifically has been known to go on runs. We can easily rattle off a winning streak, especially with the people we got here. But it’s going to take turning it around.”
Yet their struggles are nothing compared to what is happening in the starting rotation.
Mets pitchers cannot provide any semblance of length, and it has destroyed what was supposed to be the super bullpen that was pieced together at the trade deadline.
New York starters have gone 51 straight games without two different arms recording at least one start of six or more innings — David Peterson being the only one who has during that span. That is the longest single-season streak since at least 1901.
Over their last 49 games, dating back to June 13, Mets starters have thrown 220 innings while the bullpen has thrown a staggering 209.2.
“We saw [Taylor] Rogers a third day in a row [on Sunday]. We’re asking a lot of the bullpen,” Mendoza said. “Reed Garrett, before you know it, he’s pitching in the fifth inning [after opening on Saturday]. “Raley went two ups on Friday, he’s not available [Saturday], and then we ask him to pitch a full inning [Sunday]. We have to get our starters going.”
In theory, one can look at the recent schedule to see why it has been so difficult. Both the Cleveland Guardians, who swept the Mets at Citi Field last week, and the Brewers are two of the hottest teams in baseball right now, which is only exacerbating these slumps.
But it’s a straw man’s argument. The Mets are supposed to be one of the National League’s elite teams, yet have been lifeless for the better part of the last two months. They are 19-31 in their last 50 games, which is third-worst in the majors.
This is not just a blip on the radar; it’s a crisis.
“We gotta go out and do it,” Mendoza said. “We’re going to keep saying it. We have the talent, we have the players, but we have to start playing better and getting the job done. We continue to believe in the guys. But we will [turn it around]. It’s tough. I know it’s tough right now. It’s very frustrating. We’re very frustrated. But we have to keep going. Nobody said it was going to be easy.”
