Image courtesy of Roberto Carlo
With their 4-2 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, kicking off a pivotal series with a controlling stake in the National League East up for grabs, the New York Mets fell out of first place for the first time since May 8.
Backs against the wall again, huh? This team knows what to do. They’ve been here before.
For the first three months of the 2021 season, the Mets’ prime objective was to stay alive. Mission accomplished in that regard.
Heading into August with a lead in the division as well as a franchise record for players used in a season was equal parts tickling and impressive.
Circumstances — mundane and inane — shredded this roster to its core at times, but they just kept punching.
Missing Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, and J.D. Davis for extended periods of time hurt this ballclub, but adjustments were made and the train kept moving. Well, for a while.
The NL East collectively playing sub-par baseball certainly helped the situation, but that’s how the cookie crumbles. Take opportunities and run with them. The Mets did that as well as they could considering the hand they were dealt.
The magic of Billy McKinney, Jose Peraza, Mason Williams, Patrick Mazeika — oh yea, we’re gonna keep going — Wilfredo Tovar, Cameron Maybin, Johneshwy Fargas, Khalil Lee, and Jake Hager was only going to last so long.
And that’s not to discount those contributions. They were invaluable to what this team was/is trying to accomplish and formed the foundation that’s brought the Mets to this point.
Once the roster slowly became whole again, the uptick was more than noticeable and extremely welcome.
From July 1 through July 25, New York was arguably the best offensive team in baseball, leading the majors in batting average (.269), on-base percentage (.351), and wRC+ (124) with the third-most home runs (33) over that span.
On July 1, the Mets were scuffling, two games up in the National League East. With their series win in Toronto to close out that stretch, the Mets were four games up in the division.
The increased production overlapping with the return of Brandon Nimmo on July 3 was no coincidence, of course. We know how that story goes.
Momentum was created and waves were made. Eventually, all waves break. That one did. And we haven’t seen a crest since.
Since the start of their five-game series with Atlanta on July 26, the Mets have fallen flat offensively.
A team .225/.303/.342 slash line with 35 runs scored over those last 13 games (4-9) has left this team and its fanbase reeling and the Mets looking up at an arguably inferior Phillies ballclub.
Issues with runners in scoring position have been a recurring thorn in the Mets’ side all season. The first month of the year was atrocious in that regard (.178 batting average with RISP in April). Seems like ages ago, doesn’t it?
Their .259 average with RISP during the Bench Mob Era (estimating May 1 through June 30) was a godsend, as was their fifth-best in MLB .307 average in those spots from July 1 through the Jays series.
During this recent downturn, as you may have guessed, the Mets are hitting .213 in those situations. Over their last five games, they’ve left 49 men on base. That’s not the formula for dubs, friends.
Slumps will happen. Team-wide slumps happen too. Just an incredibly inopportune time for this one to drop on the Mets.
Chasing pitches, guessing in the box, an outside-looking-in apparent lack of urgency (we don’t know what the climate is in that clubhouse, folks; though, pissed off is our guess); pick your poison as of late.
The lack of adjustment over the past few weeks has been concerning, as has the team’s inability to shake the cobwebs off early in games. Does that fall on leadership? Maybe.
Ultimately, a group effort — coaches guiding players through rough patches and players adjusting and executing, lather, rinse, and repeat — will be necessary to wake themselves up out of this nightmare.
Sooner rather than later, please. LFGM.
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Offensively, everything has been off this entire season. The pitching was good enough to win more than lose but now it's not. Bases loaded-no outs-no runs only happens a few of times per season with a good team. Twice in a week with first place on the line tells you they are not right top to bottom. Winning teams come out of bases loaded, no outs with at least one run. End of story. The line up is a mess. Conforto is a hot mess. It makes for terrible baseball.
They seem to have the talent (on paper) but whoever is guiding them is NOT doing their job very well.