Reese Kaplan -- Not Pitching+Not Hitting=Not Winning

When a club is in the midst of a losing streak it’s very easy to find fault with what things have happened to allow a big L at the end of the game results for now 6 consecutive games.  Heading into Philadelphia for a match of the now tied for first place ballclubs suggests that it is either time for the Mets to turn the page and resume being the dominating club they’ve been for all but the last week of the 2025 season.  Otherwise they could leave Philadelphia looking up at their NL East rivals and trailing them by anywhere from 1-3 games. 

If you put a group of obviously worried and increasingly hostile Mets fans in a room to debate the cause of the current demise you would find them squaring off like the Hatfields and the McCoys.  On the one side you will hear screams about the horrific pitching efforts that have come both from the rotation and the bullpen.  Across that line in the sand will be the folks bemoaning the club’s ongoing inability to drive runners in when needed to do so.  The Mets started off this particular stretch 27th out of 30 teams in this regard and it would seem that the balsa wood bats have made that ranking shaky at best. 

When word came out that Max Kranick fresh from Syracuse was also headed to the IL in the midst of the pitching injury epidemic, well, it’s kind of hard to don the optimistic chapeau with Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Max Kranick, A.J. Minter, Danny Young, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith and Christian Scott all unable to take a turn every fifth day for the starters or every other day for the relievers.  Say what you will, but having 10 pitchers on the IL simultaneously is a lot of weight to bear.

Of course, it’s not just struggling to find pitching that has caused this losing streak.  The club also has Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Jesse Winker, Jose Siri and Nick Madrigal are all showing themselves medically unable to perform.  While Vientos and Baty have had subpar 2025 seasons, the other three were more like the great unknowns given their limited playing time.

For now on the pitching side of the ledger you have seen appearances in the rotation by David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and now a return of Blade Tidwell.  His game as a starting pitcher could turn into a one-off given the decision point arriving rapidly on the 12.00+ ERA pitching Frankie Montas who is rapidly running out of days he can still be on rehab unless something medical arises suddenly to account for his resemblance to a Little League pitching machine. 

On the bullpen side in addition to familiar names Edwin Diaz, Ryne Stanek, Jose Butto, Reed Garrett and Huascar Brazoban, the team has had to operate a revolving door of bullpen wannabes, the latest of which is the 2nd engagement for Dedniel Nunez who returns from Syracuse.  In addition you also have  Jose Castillo, Justin Garza and Justin Hagenman.  Not to cast aspersions on the final four in the pen, but they’re likely not going to instill the same level of respect and fear as the opening five pitchers do. 

On the hitting side, well, it frankly is awful.  Yes, Juan Soto appears to have awakened from his slumber while Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have been steady all year.  After that it gets pretty ugly quickly.  Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte have upped their averages into the .260 range but that’s after poor starts for both of them.  Most of the rest are down in the .230s or worse.  It’s become clear that Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio are both over matched.  Brett Baty had a hot period until late May and then he reverted to his previous major league level of performance which is not very good. Mark Vientos looked nothing like the 2024 version.  Brandon Nimmo is not getting on base at the same rate as in the past.  Tyrone Taylor plays more than he should primarily for his glove and speed, not his bat.  Both catchers are struggling to produce any kind of formidable offense.  Jared Young has been a better pitcher than hitter.

Unlike the merry go round in pitching, the offensive options for the front office are not quite as appealing.  The only guy on the 40-man roster not on the IL who is eligible for quick promotion is .240 hitting Hayden Senger.  His defense alone is not going to help score runs. 

While there are quite a few interesting bats in the lower minor leagues, it’s not exactly the team’s style to spend a minor league option unnecessarily for a temporary move and then thrust the mantle of RBIs on someone advancing two or more levels of organized ball.

It would seem once again that watching the waiver wire or making trades would be the way to fortify the quality of hitting, but the team hasn’t been active in either when it comes to offensive improvement.  That in itself is quite offensive to Mets fans.