Things have been falling away from the Mets this season, and 2025 is beginning to feel like a decline as well.
The concentration of incompetence that doomed 2024 doesn’t bode well for the Mets’ immediate future.
Edwin Diaz, who seems to have forgotten how to make a save, and Senga Kodai, who seems further from a return, are under contract through 2027. Can Diaz, who missed his fourth save in his past five in a 7-2 10-inning loss to San Francisco, bounce back from a devastating knee injury to become an elite player again? What about Senga, who has a strained shoulder?
Future third baseman Brett Batey also doesn’t hold a candle to Mark Vientos at the moment. Has anyone heard any good things about the Mets’ farm system this year, especially their best fielders? The scouts covering the system certainly haven’t been raving about them.
The Mets had planned to enter wild-card contention this year and then begin to make a jump in 2025, but at this point, it’s hard not to feel bad about either idea.
The Mets have lost five straight games and are now 21-30, nine games below their season-high .500 mark and their worst record in the majors since April 21 (9-22). Despite Luis Severino pitching four scoreless innings, giving up no hits on just 51 pitches through the fifth inning, and allowing just one run and two hits in the seventh inning, the Mets lost in what may just be the beginning of his audition appearance before the trade deadline.
The Mets hit two more homers, by Batty and Starling Marte. The Mets have hit 11 homers in their last four games, all losses. On Saturday, the Mets were 0-for-20 with runners on base and 0-for-13 with scoring position, but the two solo homers were the focus of the game.
Once again, what do you think is good about this team right now? Not just Diaz, but the entire relief corps seems worn down after so many demands and good performances in the first two months. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor allowed five earned runs with 10 errors. Alonso, Lindor and Brandon Nimmo are not carrying the team. And what about the near future? Do you think Lindor and Nimmo are good in their 30s? Alonso is in his retirement season and could be traded soon if he keeps losing.
That’s what happens when things are bad. You start to see and feel the worst. But aside from the emergence of Christian Scott, I don’t think anything has happened this season for the Mets that bodes well for the near future.
Which is why the Mets’ biggest positive on Saturday came before the game: Francisco Alvarez took batting practice for the first time since tearing a ligament in his left thumb on April 19. He took four rounds of five to seven swings, noting that even though his thumb was in a white plastic splint held down with orange tape, he still hit a 115-mph home run, proving he was swinging with all his might.
A lot will change in the next four months, and if things continue this way, who knows how Steve Cohen will financially recoup this season’s missteps? The Mets and Yankees competing for Juan Soto could be a catalyst for something. But for now, Alvarez, with his powerful bat, power arm, passion and energy, is the Mets’ internal hope of being a special fielder for the next few years.
Carlos Mendoza called him a “franchise player.” “That’s the type of guy he is, and it’s not just because of his hitting. He’s got a big arm. He helps stop the running game. He helps our pitching staff. We miss him. We need him 100 percent, short term and long term.”
Alvarez is still a few weeks away from returning, having to transition from batting practice to rehab games, and he’s still just 22 and playing a demanding position. But this season is going to be a glimmer of hope for the Mets, who, like Scott and Alvarez, could have something to look forward to in the future.
That’s because the powers on the field don’t seem ready to make the playoffs, even as the third wild card is contested among mediocre players. On Saturday, for example, Mendoza brought Diaz back as the closer because “we can’t hide him.” No, the Mets are too tight on their relief corps to let Diaz go unnoticed. But with the Mets leading 2-1 in the top of the ninth, Diaz gave up a single on the first pitch to Wilmer Flores. Pinch runner Ryan McKenna stole second base and Lamont Wade singled to score the tying run.
“To win games and get where we need to be, [Diaz] “I’ve got to pitch,” Mendoza said.
This is now part of the Mets’ story in 2024. They’re trying to fix Diaz, but not just this year, but a lot of other things too.
