The New York Yankees' meltdown has drawn most of the headlines, but New York's other would-be contender also finds itself in the midst of a miserable slump right now. The Mets nearly got no-hit by Gavin Williams on Wednesday afternoon, as the Cleveland Guardians polished off a sweep at Citi Field in which New York scored just three runs over the final two games.
That's the second sweep the Mets have suffered in their last three. They've now lost eight of their last nine games, a brutal stretch that now has them three back in the loss column of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Suddenly, a division that seemed theirs to lose a few weeks ago now seems like a long shot, and fans are desperate to find somebody to blame.
Luckily, we're here to help. Just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the Mets of late, but several big names deserve a bit more scrutiny than others.
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1. Juan Soto
Soto's solo homer in the ninth inning on Wednesday rescued the Mets from ignominy, but it was far too little and far too late to get the team a win. New York will at least have to hope that it's the sign of things to come, because right now they're not getting nearly enough from their $765 million man, who's hitting .177/.301/.339 with just four extra-base hits so far in the second half.
Even more troublingly, that sort of production has been more the norm than the exception so far in his debut season: His scorching June is the only month this year in which he's posted an OPS of .800 or better. The on-base skills will always be there, and there's certainly a dash of bad luck involved. But the promise of adding Soto was an offense largely immune to the sorts of slumps that New York now finds itself in, and he needs to be the one who leads the bounce back. Right now, he's part of the problem.
2. The rest of the heart of the order
Of course, while Soto's contract gives him the biggest spotlight, it's also worth noting that none of the Mets' other star hitters are producing right now either. Francisco Lindor has finally started to show signs of life after his dreadful hitless streak earlier in the summer, but guys like Pete Alonso (.546 OPS in his last 23 games) and Jeff McNeil (.685 OPS in the second half) have been downright awful, while young guys like Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez are still struggling to find their footing.
Add it all up, and you have an uncompetitive lineup right now, one that has left a worryingly thin pitching staff out to dry. Mets fans are well within their rights to blame the players in the batter's box first and foremost, but at this point, it certainly seems like a pattern is emerging — one that points to an obvious scapegoat.
3. Eric Chavez
What is it that Chavez would say he does here, exactly? Is there a single shred of evidence to suggest that he's helped rather than harmed a Mets hitter since moving back to hitting coach at the end of the 2023 season? Players who were once breaking out, like Vientos and Alvarez, are now more lost than ever. Other young talents, like Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, have failed to take off at all.
If anything, this Mets lineup seems to be getting worse, not better. And everything that we've heard from Chavez himself suggests he's not suited to helping hitters develop in the year of our lord 2025, placing an undue emphasis on simply making contact rather than concerning himself with the quality of that contact. New York has too many hitters taking questionable approaches to the plate; at a certain point, an entire slumping lineup can't be a coincidence.
4. Frankie Montas
Of course, it would be disingenuous to pretend that this is entirely the offense's fault. The Mets' once-stellar starting rotation has officially become a problem, ranking 20th in ERA (4.54) since the start of July. And it's not just that they're giving up runs; they're struggling to work deep into games while they're at it. In fact, no Mets starter other than David Peterson has pitched a full six innings since Clay Holmes did it back on June 7, exactly two months ago.
That's unacceptable for any starting staff, and has put a ton of wear and tear on a bullpen that received some badly needed reinforcements at the trade deadline. And while there are plenty of places to point the finger, Montas is a great place to start: The righty has been largely dreadful since returning from a shoulder injury that sidetracked his spring, with a 6.68 ERA in seven starts. He might be at risk of losing his rotation spot already, a disastrous outcome considering that he was one of the few major pitching expenses this team made over the offseason. And speaking of which ...
5. David Stearns
None of this is to say that Stearns isn't an excellent executive. A lot of this is out of his hands: He built a seemingly deep and dangerous lineup, only to watch it all start to crumble at once. But his approach to this pitching staff seemed risky at the time, and while it paid off handsomely during a hot start, we're seeing those risks come home to roost now.
Stearns had the chance to get a bit more aggressive with his rotation additions. But he opted to try and repeat the formula that worked so well for New York last season, taking fliers on players like Montas, Holmes and Griffin Canning. All of them brought some reason for optimism, but the thing about fliers is that they don't cost all that much for a reason. Whether due to injury or ineffectiveness, we're seeing the downside of that approach now, and after letting the deadline come and go without a major upgrade, Stearns is betting a year of Soto's prime on a pitching staff that simply doesn't seem to have enough horses.