Sports

Mets spiral worsens after Rockies sweep—pressure on Mendoza grows

Mets Rockies – New York’s slump deepened as the Rockies swept a Mets doubleheader, leaving the club tied for last in the NL East race with a major league-worst record and mounting doubts around manager Carlos Mendoza.

The New York Mets’ latest blow came with a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies—an outcome that turns a rough stretch into a full-blown crisis.

In the first paragraph. the Mets Rockies doubleheader collapse isn’t just another loss on the schedule; it’s the latest jolt for a roster that has failed to look like the team it was billed to be.. New York has now lost 15 of its last 17 games and sits tied with Philadelphia at 9–19. a major league-worst start that has quickly erased any early-season optimism.

After a strong. competitive posture last season—when the Mets opened with baseball’s best 45–23 record on June 13—New York has sunk into a late-inning drag that doesn’t yet show a clear fix.. Since that turning point. the club is 47–74. a decline that lands uncomfortably close to the same historical embarrassment it’s trying to outrun.. The Mets’ 28-game start has now mirrored long stretches of franchise pain, including the expansion-era 1962 team that lost 120 games.

What makes the current slump sting is how consistent the problems have been.. New York’s offense is producing at a level that’s hard to build stability from: the Mets have scored the fewest runs in the majors. their OPS ranks last. and they’ve found themselves stranded—one run or none—ten times. including five shutouts.. The power is also notably scarce for a team with sky-high expectations. with just 20 homers. only one above the league low.

The clubhouse, too, is being pulled into a different reality.. Even the small details—like chessboard and cribbage replacing older recreational staples—can feel symbolic when the bigger storyline is results.. There’s a human tendency to read into such changes during a losing streak. but the bigger issue is whether the players’ process is actually clicking.. Brett Baty’s message reflected that effort: the team is “putting in the work. ” even as the scoreboard keeps telling a harsher story.

Manager Carlos Mendoza insists he’s focused on what he can control—getting his hitters moving and dragging the club out of a funk—rather than worrying about long-term job security.. He said he’s worried only about finding ways to spark the lineup. and he acknowledged the gap between what the Mets’ roster should be capable of and what it has shown lately.. That gap has become the emotional center of the season: when leaders like Juan Soto are speaking about talent needing to “wake up. ” it suggests the ceiling is there. but the consistency isn’t.

The pressing atmosphere has also landed on the pitching staff, where the slump is becoming harder to disguise.. Kodai Senga. once an All-Star-caliber piece in 2023. has dropped to 0–4 as his third straight poor outing ended with him chased in the third inning of the second game.. His season line—an ERA of 9.00 and five homers allowed in only 20 innings—signals not just bad command. but vulnerabilities that opponents are now expecting to exploit.. Mendoza planned to speak with Senga. and the situation carries an extra layer of tension due to contract restrictions: Senga’s $75 million. five-year deal requires his consent before any minor-league assignment.

That constraint matters because it narrows the practical options.. Senga said he can’t give an immediate yes or no. though he would consider a relief role—an adjustment that could stabilize usage without forcing a decision that violates the terms of his contract.. For a team already struggling to create reliable innings. role changes can help. but only if the underlying pitch effectiveness returns.

On the offensive side, New York appears ready to chase improvement through roster tinkering.. The Mets plan to designate Tommy Pham for assignment and have agreed to a major league deal with Austin Slater. decisions driven by performance and the need to add any spark available.. Pham’s current run—0 for 13 in nine games since his April call-up—highlights how thin margins have become when a team is already posting the kind of run totals that force urgency every night.

The postseason picture offers little comfort.. The Mets are 10 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta and seven games back for the last NL wild card. a gap that can tighten quickly once the offense finds rhythm—but can also widen into a point of no return if the slump continues.. New York’s payroll was built for contention. and when the results don’t follow. it creates a louder pressure cycle: more scrutiny on the manager. more scrutiny on roster decisions. and more urgency for pitchers to regain their roles.

Even in a season where clubhouse diversions have changed—ping-pong and shuffleboard removed early. while other distractions remain—the core concern isn’t entertainment.. It’s whether the Mets can convert effort into production. starting with at-bats that look dangerous and pitching that doesn’t hand opponents easy momentum.. For now. the Mets Rockies doubleheader result reads like a warning sign: the club is out of time to treat this as a temporary dip. and the next response—on the field. not in the dugout—will decide whether Mendoza’s “find a way” message can turn into something more than a coping line.