Mets spiral – The Mets’ slide worsened after they were swept by the Rockies in a doubleheader. With offense struggling and roster changes failing to spark results, pressure is building on manager Carlos Mendoza.
NEW YORK — The Mets’ clubhouse may have traded table tennis and shuffleboard for chess and cribbage, but the on-field reality hasn’t changed: New York is sliding fast.
The latest blow came after the Mets were swept 3-1 and 3-0 by the Colorado Rockies in a doubleheader.. Colorado. which was a 119-game loser last season. has been reading New York’s struggles like a scouting report—especially on nights when the Mets couldn’t scratch out consistent offense.. New York is now tied with NL East rival Philadelphia for a major-league worst 9-19 record.
The frustration isn’t confined to the standings.. Since winning their pace-setter stretch early—posting a big league-best 45-23 record at the start of play on June 13 last year—the Mets have gone 47-74.. That shift tells a larger story than one bad weekend: the roster reset that carried major expectations has not translated into results. and the lineup has looked stuck in neutral.
The offseason overhaul saw Pete Alonso. Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz leave. while Bo Bichette. Marcus Semien and Devin Williams arrived.. So far, that high-profile spending has not produced the kind of day-to-day punch the Mets need.. Star outfielder Juan Soto summed up the problem with a blunt truth about timing and execution: talent may be present. but the offense isn’t consistently delivering.
New York now sits 10 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta and seven games back from the last NL wild card spot.. The club’s early record echoes the worst historical starts in franchise history. with the expansion-era 1962 Mets posting an 8-20 opening—an uncomfortable comparison that no team wants to revisit.. There’s still work to do. but the Mets aren’t just falling behind; they’re failing to generate the kind of margin that keeps seasons alive.
The numbers make the urgency clearer.. New York’s 92 runs are the fewest in Major League Baseball. and its 20 home runs rank barely above the league low.. Their .625 OPS is last in the majors. and the offense has been shut down often enough to define the season’s tone: the Mets have been held to one run or none ten times. including five shutouts.
Manager Carlos Mendoza, asked about the broader situation, didn’t try to hide from the obvious.. “It’s hard to explain. ” he said. pointing directly at the issue: “Not good at-bats up and down.” His message to the group is about re-centering fundamentals—film. individual conversations. support. and challenge—because the Mets’ problem isn’t one isolated slump.. It’s an overall inability to turn quality situations into sustained production.
Pressure around the dugout is rising in a way that becomes unavoidable when a team slides in both the standings and the underlying performance metrics.. Mendoza also addressed the job-security question after Boston’s Alex Cora became the first major league manager dismissed this season.. Mendoza’s response was firm and practical: his focus is getting the players out of the funk. even as the outside noise continues to build.
The pitching side has provided its own alarms.. Kodai Senga dropped to 0-4 after a third straight rough outing. including being chased in the third inning of the second game.. An All-Star in 2023. when he finished second in the NL with a 2.98 ERA. Senga’s current stretch has been stark—he has a 9.00 ERA and has allowed five homers in only 20 innings.. That’s not just about one start; it’s about command. damage prevention. and whether the rotation can stabilize before the margin evaporates completely.
Senga also became part of the roster-management storyline because his contract includes a restriction that he cannot be assigned to the minors without consent.. With that clause in place, any attempt to reshuffle his role becomes more complicated—and more sensitive.. Senga said he would consider a relief role. suggesting the Mets may have to explore alternatives rather than simply hoping the next start fixes everything.
Offensively, New York is reportedly looking at ways to add urgency and change looks.. The Mets plan to designate Tommy Pham for assignment and have agreed to a major league contract with Austin Slater.. Those moves aren’t glamorous. but when a lineup is producing so little. even incremental shifts—platoons. matchups. and at-bats—can matter.. Pham has struggled since his call-up. while Slater’s recent production with Miami hasn’t been strong enough to change the bigger question: can New York’s hitters consistently do damage against MLB pitching?
There’s also the larger context of money and expectations.. New York opened with a major-league high payroll projection of $358.4 million. and total spend including luxury tax reaching $482.5 million—second only to the Dodgers.. That kind of investment raises the baseline for what “getting better” must look like. and it explains why this slide feels heavier than a typical midseason slump.
What’s striking is how the club has already tried to tweak the environment.. Table tennis and shuffleboard have been removed from the clubhouse. replaced by games like chess and cribbage—an attempt to change the tone when results won’t cooperate.. Yet after the doubleheader defeat. the pool table still felt like a snapshot of the mood: empty-pocket confidence. balls left in place. and a late-night question hovering over everything—how long can talent wait for form to arrive?
For now. Mendoza is betting on the quiet work: addressing approaches. tightening habits. and finding ways to spark the lineup without relying on hope.. The remaining season will quickly reveal whether those adjustments can flip the offense from survival mode into real run production—and whether the Mets’ next wave of decisions comes with the same patience as the early plan.