Hey, stop me if you’ve heard this before but the Mets only scored one run. You haven’t heard that? Well, it’s the seventh time in 40 games they put just one run across the plate. This one resulted in a 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks Sunday afternoon.

They say that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, the Mets played Andy Ibanez at third base in this one, and that was at least something new. But it didn’t quite work, as Ibanez committed two errors and went 0-3.

There’s a time for patience and there’s a time for action. And the decision makers for the Mets should catch up to the fans and be out of patience.

None of us have any idea on what the right thing to do is. But my suggestion is to do something more impactful than playing a career scrub acquired during the season in a new position for the team.

Maybe you cut Ibanez, Craig Kimbrel and Austin Slater, who played and went 0-4 in this game, on the same day. Their replacements could hardly be worse.

Perhaps you fire/re-assign the hitting coach. Or maybe your burn all of the bats or pick the lineup out of a hat. You could even fire the manager. Just. do. something.

The team is listless and definitely needs a fire to be lit, somehow, someway. We saw this at the end of 2025 and we saw what doing nothing accomplished. Why they’re willingly going down the exact same path again is perplexing, to put it mildly.

It’s so bad that a die-hard Mets fan – let’s call him me – chose to watch the Knicks’ third stringers play the final quarter in a 40-point blowout than watch the Mets. To paraphrase President Johnson – if you’ve lost Joura, you’ve lost the fanbase.

Do something to win us back. We’re begging you to disrupt the status quo. No one wants to be the one to say that the party’s over but the team is 15-25 and going nowhere. There’s going to have to be a bunch of heavily discounted tickets and promotions to get fans out to Citi Field at this rate. Perhaps a half-empty stadium in May can force the team to try something new.

Historically, the Mets have been known more for their pitching than their offense. Some of that is due to playing in a pitcher’s park like Shea Stadium. Some of that has been insisting on playing guys who can’t hit – whether that’s Bud Harrelson or Rey Ordonez or seemingly the entire 2026 club. It was hard to watch Saturday night’s inept performance versus a pitcher who entered the day with a 9.95 ERA in his previous four starts.

The offense stinks. I know it, you know it and the entire league knows it. But do you know just how bad it is? Here’s some things about the offense that you may not realize, even while understanding intuitively that it’s revoltingly bad:

5. The Mets are 29^th in runs per game with a 3.54 mark and 30^th with an 80 OPS+. The rpg is the club’s lowest since the strike-shortened year in 1981, when the club averaged 3.31 runs per game. The last full season with a mark worse than the current year happened in 1974, when they had a 3.53 mark and finished 71-91. The 1962 Mets, losers of 120 games, posted a 3.83 rpg average.

Back in 2023, looking for a way to identify crappy production for OPS+, like The Mendoza Line did for AVG, it was established that for a player an 80 OPS+ was the benchmark. It was named The Galvis Line, in honor of Freddy Galvis, who had OPS+ marks of 79, 78 and 81 in three consecutive years where he had enough PA to qualify for the batting title. Anyway, the entire team for the Mets is at the Galvis Line, which is hard to wrap one’s head around.

4. The Mets have played seven extra-inning games, ones where they get the zombie runner at second. They’ve scored nine runs in extra innings this season. Without those, they’ve scored 129 runs, or 3.31 runs per game. Only four teams in franchise history had a worst mark than that and they were all in the deadball 60s time frame of 1963-1968.

3. The Mets have scored eight or more runs six times this season. In the other 33 games, they’ve totaled 80 runs, an average of 2.42 rpg. They’ve been shut out five times, scored one run six times and plated two runs six times, too. That’s 17 times in 39 games where they’ve scored two runs or fewer.

2. Their .675 OPS with runners in scoring position ranks 27^th in the majors. Their 352 PA with RISP ranks 28^th and their 102 runs scored with RISP ranks 29^th. They’re not hitting overall and they’re not hitting in the clutch, either.

1. Here’s a table of the 11 hitters with the most PA so far for the Mets:

That’s 10 of the 11 hitters with a lower OPS+ this season than their career average. And the only player who doesn’t have a lower mark is Carson Benge, who made his MLB debut this year and doesn’t have a career average. And the vast majority of these players have a lower OPS+ than they did a season ago, too. There are two players who are doing better now than in 2025, one by a single point and the other by five points.

*****

Someone tell the hitters that offense is fun and they should try it out and see if they like it.

The Fox announcers talked about this being a well-pitched game. Maybe it was. Yet it felt to me like two teams struggling to hit squaring off against one another. New York managed just three hits in the game and fell to Arizona, 2-1, in Phoenix Saturday night.

Merrill Kelly got the start for the home team. Kelly came in with a 9.95 ERA – not a typo – and had allowed 19 ER in his previous three games and 13.2 IP. So, of course, the impotent Mets’ offense managed just one run against him. It would be frustrating if it weren’t so predictable.

Clay Holmes got the start for the Mets. He didn’t have his best stuff and got victimized in the third inning, when he allowed a walk and three hits, which the Diamondback turned into two runs. Unfortunately, that was enough.

Brett Baty drove in the Mets’ only run with an RBI double in the second inning. Other than that, there wasn’t much to discuss positively about the club’s hitting. If we want to grasp at straws, the Mets hit a bunch of fly balls deep that were turned into outs. Maybe if the roof was open a few of them would have been home runs…

The Mets still have a chance to win the series. David Peterson will pitch at some point on Sunday but it’s anyone’s guess if he’ll get the start or be used as a bulk reliever in the 4:10 p.m. start.

OK, we get it. This season has started off disastrously for the Mets. We know this. After their Opening Day surprise shellacking of Paul Skenes, not very much has gone right. The glare of the New York spotlight was too much for Bo Bichette. Juan Soto hurt his calf and was lost for a week. Francisco Lindor hurt his calf and is still lost. That happened just as he was finding himself. The other two major off-season acquisitions – Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert, Jr. – are also shelved, but they weren’t contributing much offensively, anyway: nobody is hitting. Look, you know you’re in trouble when there’s a fan revolt because MJ Melendez isn’t in the lineup. The Mets have sunk to the bottom of most outlets’ power rankings. And rightly so: they still sport the second-worst record in MLB, a half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels, from whom they just took two-out-of-three. It almost seems impossible, but this team, as a whole, is a textbook definition of “mediocre.” When the offense clicks, the starting pitching falters. When the pitching is good and the offense can muster run or two, the bullpen chokes. When the overall pitching is strong, the offense goes into the toilet. The whole is most decidedly less than the sum of the parts. Yes, there has been a recent run of success on the road, with series victories over the woeful Angels and Colorado Rockies and a game one extra-inning victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the hole may already be too deep. If you’ll permit me to descend into the yobbo-fan voice, “we” stink.

But are there signs of hope? Not sure I’d go that far, but there some nice things to look at. Yeah, Soto is back, doing Soto things, which is quite nice, and Clay Holmes has been a revelation as a starter in this early going, but we must look longer term, for that is all we have at the moment. No, I’m looking at three players who are starting to live up to the hype. All are relatively young and all but one are pitchers.

Nolan McLean

Of course. Starting late last year, he burst onto the scene looking very much the ace he was projected to be. He has demonstrated the demeanor, poise, talent and, frankly, rotten luck that has many thinking of him as “Jacob deGrom: the Next Generation.” His starts are becoming must-watch – or at least must-pay-attention-to in the face of continuing bad news. In eight starts, covering 45-plus innings, he sports a solid 143 ERA+ and is good for second on the team – behind Holmes – with an 0.9 bWAR. Beyond the stats, though, his starts are just fun to watch. He carves up the plate like a sushi artist avoiding the deadliest parts of a fugu.

Carson Benge

It’s starting to look like he’s getting this whole “Yeah, I’m actually an MLB player” thing figured out. After homering on opening day, he scuffled, garnering a bare eight hits – only one of them for extra bases -- in his next 63 at bats, dropping his average to .136 and his OPS to .416. After a game on the bench against the Minnesota Twins at home, he’s busted out on both ends of the ball, going 14-for-his-next-43, raising the BA to .235 and the OPS to .629, along with more than a few highlight reel plays in the outfield.

Christian Scott

I know, it’s only been three starts, but you’ve got to admit he’s had one heck of a turnaround. His first outing, as we know, was horrid – five walks, a hit batsman and an earned run in an inning and a third. His bounce back over his next two, though, has been superb. He’s shown an ability to miss bats, as evinced by a 1.18 WHIP and a better than two-to-one strikeout to walk ratio. If things get interesting down the road, he’ll be one to keep our eyes on. I won’t bet against him.

Believe it or not, there is still time. The season does not end on May 9. Just ask the 2022 Atlanta Braves. Hell, for that matter, ask the 2025 New York Mets. If a turnaround comes, it’s going to take a village. It’ll take Lindor coming back strong. It’ll take Bichette getting over himself. It’ll take Soto staying consistently excellent. It’ll take Holmes continuing to open eyes and Freddy Peralta contributing as a starter more than he has so far. Can all of that drop? Probably not all of it, but meanwhile, we can follow at least three bright lights through the fog.

And maybe restore some respectability.

Mark Vientos had a home run and an RBI double, the latter the game-winner in the 10^th inning, as the Mets won 3-1 Friday night in Arizona. Maybe the Mets can petition the league to let them bat each inning with the zombie runner on second.

Carson Benge followed Vientos’ double with a double of his own, giving the Mets a two-run lead. Marcus Semien bunted to give the Mets runners on the corners with no outs but they could not add to the lead.

Devin Williams had an eight-pitch ninth inning and picked up the win. It seemed like he would come out for the 10^th but Carlos Mendoza went to Tobias Myers, instead. Myers had a 1-2-3 10^th, to pick up his first save and the first this year by someone besides Williams.

Vientos led off the second with a homer to put the Mets up, 1-0. But that was one of just two hits the Mets had thru nine innings, as the offensive malaise continues. The team continued to struggle against fastballs, with the Diamondbacks throwing 33 pitches 97 mph and above and the Mets’ offense mostly non-existent without the zombie runner.

It was a strong outing for Nolan McLean, who allowed just one run in six innings. Luke Weaver and Brooks Raley got the game to the ninth tied. In all, it was four shutout innings for the pen.

The Mets are now 5-2 on this nine-game road trip.

There have been a bunch of rule changes instituted in MLB recently. Some have been an outstanding success, like the pitch clock. Some have been quasi-disasters, like the extra-innings rule. Some it’s too soon to tell, like with the ABS challenge system. And then there’s the one that you don’t hear discussed much at all – banning the shift that puts three fielders on one side of the second-base bag. There were a couple of stated reasons for banning the shift, chief among them that it would bring more offense into the game. But has that really happened?

Today, MLB’s rule changes are hailed as a resounding success for the sport. Game times are down. Stolen bases are up. Even strikeout rates have flattened.

Yet restricting the infield shift did not bring back the base hit. In 2026, league-wide batting average remains at its lowest point for position players in the Modern Era (.243) and batting average on balls in play (.291) is up only one point from 2022.

By the numbers, MLB’s hitting crisis continues.

But if the game looks more normal, does anyone care?

Source: Stephen J. Nesbitt and Cody Stavenhagen, The Athletic

It never mattered to me how the game “looked” in this instance. It’s not like putting ads on the uniform. My thoughts on the shift were that once the defense adjusted, it was up to the hitters to do the same. And that simply meant more bunting and more hitting to the opposite field. Yet 99% of the hitters refused to do that.

Generally speaking, the bunt is not my favorite strategy. But it’s about giving away outs, rather than using it as a way to get a hit. While he was far, far from my favorite player, Frank Taveras made excellent use of the push bunt. And Brett Butler was an excellent bunter, in many different ways, too. Shoot, there was even Todd Frazier and the slug bunt. Hitters had all of these weapons available to them and for the most part, they simply refused to utilize them. Why reward them for their stubbornness?

How many times have we wished that players like Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos hit the other way, rather than trying to pull every pitch that comes their way? How often do Brett Baty and Carson Benge get praised when they go to the opposite field?

My preference with rule changes is to address things beyond the offense or defense’s control. The pitch clock is a success because pitchers couldn’t make hitters get into the box, while hitters couldn’t make pitchers throw the ball. Now we don’t have that problem.

Replay and the ABS are steps in the right direction, because they give clubs a way to get calls reversed, again something that without the rules, neither the offense or defense could do anything to change the outcome. While the challenge nature of these rule changes doesn’t exactly thrill me, getting more calls right is always better than fewer calls. It’s a case of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I’m torn on the three-batter rule. As someone who hated the proliferation of LOOGY’s, it’s good to see teams no longer carrying two of them on their roster. Yet at the end of the day, teams – even if not the Mets – were moving away from this deployment strategy on their own, with no rule necessary. Ultimately, my take here is that while this rule was less than ideal, it didn’t make the game worse.

Does banning the shift make the game worse? It seems this is a question upon which reasonable people can disagree. Speaking only for myself, the thing that seemed bad was infielders going back and forth on the diamond due to the count. But the pitch clock would have mitigated that some. Also, they could have made it so the defense would have to declare what it was going to do for the at-bat, like when a runner is on third and the pitcher has to declare if he’s going to use the wind-up or pitch from the stretch.

As a fan of strategy in the game, my preference is to embrace teams that try different things. Some things will work, while others will fail. And even things that work initially won’t always work once teams adjust. The game seeking its own equilibrium is part of the beauty of it, in my estimation.

Sometimes the game needs a push, like with the pitch clock. It’s my opinion that banning the shift was not a push that was necessary. And seeing that it hasn’t had the desired effect of adding more offense to the game only makes it worse.

The Mets were working with a shortened pen. That, combined with an early hook for Christian Scott, led to Craig Kimbrel coming on in a tie game in the eighth inning. And the results were predictably ugly. Kimbrel gave up a grand slam and the Mets lost, 6-2 Thursday afternoon in Denver.

Few teams have a pen with eight trusted members. The Mets have two weak spots with Kimbrel and Sean Manaea. You can understand why they haven’t cut Manaea, given their financial investment in him. But that’s not the case with Kimbrel. Why they DFAd Carl Edwards Jr. instead of Kimbrel makes no sense. Edwards had life on his pitches and could give multiple innings. Kimbrel? Eh, not so much on either count.

Scott was removed after 82 pitches with two outs in the fourth inning. It was a conservative, understandable move on Mendoza’s part. It just didn’t take account the short pen the Mets were dealing with in this particular game.

And to make matters worse, it was a rare off night for Huascar Brazoban. Maybe Mendoza could have sent Austin Warren back out for the eighth. But he made the decision to give Kimbrel a clean inning. No argument here giving the reliever a clean inning. The argument is having Kimbrel on the roster in the first place. And putting him into a high-leverage situation at Coors Field.

The slam he allowed was a little bit controversial. It was a high blast down the line, one which we didn’t have a great camera angle on. But Mendoza immediately went out and asked for a crew chief review. And there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn.

In the booth, Keith Hernandez thought it was a homer, while Gary Cohen wasn’t sure. Me, I never saw the ball, either live or on multiple replays. All I know is that it was crushed. Even if it was overturned, odds seemed stacked that Kimbrel was going to give up multiple runs in this outing, regardless.

After banging out 15 hits Wednesday night in the cold air, the Mets managed just six hits in this one. Austin Slater had two hits in this game. Which means the manager yanked him once he didn’t have the platoon advantage. He got Melendezed. Meanwhile, M.J. Melendez also entered this game as a pinch-hitter. And he had the results that usually happen when he gets pinch-hit for – the PH made an out.

It’s disappointing not to sweep and it’s disappointing not to score more than two runs in a game at Coors Field with decent weather. It’s on to Arizona and hopefully the bats show more life there than they did in this one.

With all of the under-achievement going on with the Mets’ offense, it’s easy to overlook where a player is coming up short. But very few people are asking what’s happening with Brett Baty’s power. Last year, Baty had a .181 ISO. This season, that number checks in at .097 after 117 PA. The power he showed last year was why he had a successful campaign, with a 111 wRC+. This season that number is just 71.

Baty began the year in a funk, with 0 BB, 21 Ks and a .469 OPS in his first 17 games and 63 PA. One of many things wrong with his approach at the start of the year was swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone. In those first 63 PA, Baty had a 37.1 O-Swing%, the fifth-worst mark on the club. And two of those above him had just 4 and 19 PA, respectively.

However, in his last 54 PA, Baty has cut his O-Swing% in half, as he sits with an 18.0% rate. And that’s the best on the team in this span, better than even Juan Soto. And by swinging at better pitches, Baty finds himself with 10 BB, 10 Ks and a .753 OPS. Since his first walk, Baty has a 127 wRC+ - better overall production than he had in 2025.

Still, where’s the power?

If we look at what Baty did a season ago, he had just a .138 ISO in his first 62 PA. Of course, that was with sporadic playing time and even a brief trip to the minors. Yet in his final 370 PA, Baty had 17 HR and a .188 ISO. Baty had displayed solid HR totals in the minors, hitting 19 HR in 2022 and 10 in 121 PA in SYR in 2023. But that power did not show up in the majors before 2025.

And now it’s disappeared again. Baty has just 1 HR in 117 PA. There’s been no trip to the minors this year and his playing time has been fairly consistent, as he has the third-most PA on the club. Baty is hitting more balls into the air, with a higher quality of contact than a season ago. He just hasn’t been able to put the ball over the fence.

In 2025, Baty had a HR/FB rate of 22.5, which ranked 15^th in the majors among players with at least 300 PA. This year, he has a 4.3 HR/FB rate, which ranks 155^th out of 178 hitters to qualify for the leaderboards.

Maybe it’s as simple as the cold weather early in the season that’s affecting Baty’s power. Whether that’s the answer or not, it sure would be nice for him to hit some home runs and turn on the power. Sure, there are a bunch of players on the team that we could say the same thing. It’s just that we’ve seen Baty turn the corner with his swing decisions and it’s frustrating that his power hasn’t jumped back to where it was a year ago.

He had two hits, a walk and a double Wednesday night – so perhaps that’s the start of a power resurgence. It was just Baty’s third extra-base hit since he began to turn things around. We all want things to happen immediately, something that’s heightened here with the team so far below .500 after 36 games.

While it’s difficult to be patient, it seems that’s exactly what’s called for right now with Baty. He’s swinging at better pitches and he’s hitting the ball in the air with solid contact. Eventually, those things will lead to better power numbers.

And if it’s just the cold weather, the next series will be in Arizona against the Diamondback, where temperatures are expected in the 90s. And it’s supposed to be much warmer for the last game in Denver later here on Thursday.

Juan Soto had a leadoff homer, the Mets put up double-digit runs, Freddy Peralta pitched five scoreless innings and they still had to use their closer in the ninth inning. But when the dust cleared, the Mets came away with a 10-5 victory over the Rockies in Denver Wednesday night.

The Mets pounded out 15 hits and added four walks on the night. There were numerous offensive stars and among them was … can’t believe I’m typing this … Marcus Semien, who became the first Met this season to record a four-hit game. Semien capped it off with a two-run homer in the ninth inning that gave them a 10-4 lead.

Carlos Mendoza opted to use Sean Manaea to close out the game. After getting the first out, Manaea loaded the bases and then hit a batter. With it now a save situation, Mendoza brought in Devin Williams, who struck out both batters he faced to get his fifth save of the year.

Peralta danced out of trouble most of his night and was pulled after 91 pitches. He earned his second win of the year, his first since Opening Day.

The Mets held an 8-0 lead in the game, with just about everyone in the lineup contributing. Five batters had two-hit games. Carson Benge was one of the five and he had a double and two RBIs. Brett Baty had two hits, a walk and two runs scored. MJ Melendez went 2-2 with a walk before being lifted for a pinch-runner.

Tobias Myers relieved Peralta in the sixth inning and got rocked, allowing five hits and four runs while getting just two out. Brooks Raley bailed him out and was brought back for the seventh. Luke Weaver fanned two in the eighth. After Semien’s homer, it looked like it was going to be a laugher. But it was not the case.

It’s enough to make you wonder if Manaea is going to come down with an injury. His spot could be in jeopardy with A.J. Minter nearing a return.

The Mets will go for the sweep on Wednesday. Christian Scott takes the mound in the 3:10 p.m. start.

Here’s a batting order for the Mets, selected by the best performance in that spot, with a minimum of 15 PA:

1 - Bo Bichette .742 OPS
2 - Juan Soto .915 OPS
3 - MJ Melendez 1.098 OPS
4 - Brett Baty .967 OPS
5 - Luis Robert Jr. .978 OPS
6 - Mark Vientos .641 OPS
7 - Marcus Semien .696 OPS
8 - Carson Benge .469 OPS
9 - Francisco Alvarez 1.227 OPS

Bichette is the interesting one to me. He doesn’t seem like a prototypical leadoff hitter and certainly his OBP isn’t what you’d want for the spot. But he’s been the best of a bad lot for the Mets this year.

Alvarez is worth discussing, too. Was his hot start to the year hitting ninth just a random thing or does he press too much when hitting higher in the order? There may not be a satisfactory answer to that question right now. It’s just something to consider.

*****

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My opinion before the season started is that every single Mets fan out there expected Carson Benge to make an All-Star team by 2030. Where there was not nearly as much uniformity of opinion was where it was best for Benge to start 2026. As stated here many times, it was my take that Benge needed to have success at Triple-A, a level he did not conquer in 2025. The Mets chose to have him in their Opening Day lineup, instead.

It’s not hyperbole to state that thru the club’s first 24 games, Benge was one of the 10-worst hitters in the majors. Thru that point, he was batting .136 with a .416 OPS. It’s been a different story since then. In his last 11 games, Benge is slashing .303/.361/.545 in 36 PA. The broadcasters have talked about Benge closing his stance some, allowing him to cover more of the plate. Maybe that explains his sudden success.

What’s not up for debate is that Benge has cut down on his strikeouts here in this good stretch. Prior to the last 11 games, he had 18 Ks in 73 PA for a 24.7 K%. But in Benge’s last 36 PA, he’s fanned just six times for a 16.7 K%.

When you combine making more contact with an elevated BABIP, success is sure to follow. Currently the MLB rate is a .292 BABIP. In his last 11 games, Benge has a .320 mark. That’s not a crazy BABIP yet everyone should be aware that it’s playing a role in his success. Some may argue that it’s making up for his depressed BABIP at the beginning of the season. Perhaps it is. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t expect those results the rest of 2026.

That leaves his strikeout rate. What can we expect from Benge in that department moving forward? Last year in Triple-A, when he struggled so much, he had an 18.4 K%, which was up from the 15.9% rate he had in Double-A. Generally speaking, one’s strikeout rate doesn’t improve when you advance to a higher level. For the season, Benge has a 22.0 K% in the majors, which might be a touch higher than we might have expected coming into the year but generally in the ballpark.

In addition to cutting down his whiffs, Benge has delivered power in this brief span. In 36 PA, he has two doubles and two homers. Prior to this stretch, he had just two extra-base hits in 73 PA, a double and a homer. And the home run came on Opening Day.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Benge continues his strong hitting for a little while longer. The questions are how long he’ll keep it up and what will he settle into once the hot streak is over. We saw last year that Mark Vientos had a stretch of 91 PA – 2.5X longer than Benge’s current streak – where he had a 1.144 OPS with a .280 BABIP.

Before that stretch, Vientos had a .633 OPS and afterwards, it was a .402 mark. And Vientos already had success at Triple-A and the majors before last year’s hot streak.

The results of one single person have no bearing on what will happen with Benge. It’s simply one data point that the results of 11 games does not mean that he has “figured out” MLB pitching. None of us have any idea if Benge will use this hot streak as a jumping off point to a productive season, if it’s a brief respite from lousy results or if it’s somewhere in between.

Yet if I’m being honest, the first thing that jumped to mind when hearing people point to Benge’s recent hot hitting was the crazed takes back in 2024 about the “tremendous” June of Luisangel Acuna. That month, Acuna had a .761 OPS, which was miles better than what he did previously. The only problem was that when you looked at what everyone else on the team was doing, it wasn’t the slightest bit special. It ranked 11^th among the 15 hitters for Syracuse in June.

To be fair, Benge’s production here lately stands out among his teammates over the same span. My comparison is to the reaction, not the results. There’s nothing wrong with wanting players to be good. We can enjoy Benge’s recent production without crossing the line to unhinged takes. For what it’s worth, I drafted Benge in my keeper fantasy league team this year. The sooner he’s better helps both my fantasy team and my favorite team in real life.

Benge turning the corner is the result for which I’m rooting. It’s just not a wager anyone should be making right now.

After being no-hit for five innings, the Mets pushed across four runs in the sixth and held on for a 4-2 win over the Rockies in Denver Monday afternoon.

Due to nasty weather, the game was pushed up from its regularly-scheduled time, leaving a crowd that was reminiscent of Shea Stadium circa 1979. It was different, as the Rockies typically draw good crowds, even with rotten teams. But the crowd wasn’t the big deal in this one, it was the wind blowing in that kept Coors from being the hitter’s paradise it usually is.

But the Mets broke thru in the sixth inning, showing the power you love to see. Carson Benge led off with a homer and then Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens hit back-to-back doubles, making it 2-0. And then Mark Vientos, who stung the ball all game, hit a two-run single to make it 4-0.

Vientos was just 1-4 in the game but the wind kept him from two potential home runs. The xBA on each of his three outs was .720, .740 and .780 – with the last one coming on a line shot snagged by the second baseman.

Huascar Brazoban was the opener for the Mets and he stranded a runner on third base in his only inning. Austin Warren relieved him and gave two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. David Peterson came on as the bulk reliever and had a strong outing.

The only blemish came in the seventh inning, when Benge, who made another diving catch earlier in the game, turned the wrong way and fell down. He looked like Wilmer Flores out there – stumbling and bumbling before eventually falling down. The Rockies took advantage and scored twice in the frame.

If Benge had made the play, Peterson might have finished the game. Instead, we held our breath while Craig Kimbrel pitched the eighth. Devin Williams was dominant in the ninth, retiring the side on eight pitches, getting a strikeout to end the game.

The Mets are now 3-1 in May, all road victories. We’ll have to see if tomorrow’s game gets pushed to the afternoon again, as snow is in the forecast. It would be nice to play in Denver in July when the Mets go there again in 2028.

Now that Carlos Mendoza has been given a vote of confidence by Steans, Steve Cohen must realize that it was Stearns who dug this hole. Of course, Cohen can’t get rid of the boy wonder, because our multi-billionaire would be the laughing stock of other owners.

So, in hindsight, what better choices could Stearns have made.

Stearns refused to even offer a reasonable five year contract to the all-time Mets home run hitter, who basically played every day and was the king of scooping crappy throws, because someone decided that his fielding was hurting the Mets. So Stearns solved that problem by signing an aging Jorge Polanco to play a position that he had essentially never played. How absurd.

Nathaniel Lowe would have been a much better choice. He has some power, is an above average first baseman and he signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds for about $1.75 million. All he has done this year is hit five HR, to go along with 12 RBI, a .288 batting average and an OPS of 1.027. Lowe would have been a good bargain option as they waited for Ryan Clifford to ascend. Old man Polanco was last seen on the IL.

For a teenage prospect, a bag of balls and two tubs of chewing gum, Stearns dumped a long-time Met who played an adequate second base, filled in at third and all three outfield positions, was a former batting champ in 2022 with earned a reasonable $12 million. Then he decided that the collection of baby Mets could not handle the position as none have lived up to their promise. So the boy wonder thought, “let’s screw up two positions with one trade. So he dumped outfielder who had played most of his team’s games, contributed greatly to the offense, played an adequate left or center field, was a strong voice in the clubhouse, and was only paid $20 million per year. In return, Stearns got aging second baseman Marcus Semien, who made more money than the departing player but had two few years committed. The rationale was that run prevention triumphed over scoring runs. Well, Semien has been far from a gold glove at second, and he clearly left his bat somewhere else.

The Mets could have traded for Brandon Lowe, who instead went in a multi-team trade from the Tampa Rays to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 31-year-old Lowe is making $11.5 million this year on a one year deal that would have fit nicely with Stearns’ desire of short term money contracts. All Lowe has done so far is hit .252 with an OPS of .890 to go along with 8 HR and 20 RBI.

The Mets certainly needed a center fielder because Tyronne Taylor, while a capable defensive backup, should never be mistaken for a starter. Stearns again opted for the theory of run prevention and singed often injured Luis Robert, Jr., who at present is sitting on the 10-day IL. Prior to going on the shelf, Robert was in the midst of getting just two hits in his last 23 at bats. No doubt his acquisition was a reaction to losing out on top free agents Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger. While neither Tucker nor Bellinger are off to good offensive starts, they are hitting better than Robert and at least are still on the playing field. Pinky Bader might have been an enticing choice given that we know he is strong defensively and he had a career hitting year in 2025. Kudos to Stearns for not biting on Bader because he has been a terrible hitter so far in 2026, even hitting worse than several poorly performing Mets.

What Stearns could have done was to plant Carson Benge, who earned a roster spot this spring, and has recently gotten his stroke back, in center field and bookend him with Juan Soto and Ryan Clifford, or AJ Ewing. In doing this, Stearns could have at least partially embraced the Houston Astros tear down – rebuild strategy that while certainly painful, made them contenders for several years and landed them some titles. Those two would also greatly dollar average the $51 million paid each year to Soto, who by the way is worth every penny that he gets. Critics will say that Clifford and Ewing, and even Benge, might not be ready to play in Queens, but neither are the players they brought in.

Stearns then panicked and signed Bo Bichette, never known for his run prevention, with the promise that while he would not hit as many home runs as some of the departing players, he would be an RBI machine and champion some small ball victories. That turned out to be a $42 million miscalculation. And Brett Baty, who finished strong in 2025, and who we were all happy to see start the season at the hot corner, got thrown in to super sub hell and forced to play out of position at first base and in the outfield. Did Stearns not read his own run prevention memo.

Lastly, in the midst of gutting the home run hitting potential of this team, Stearns opted to fill the DH role with marginal players already on the roster. The real move was to sign Japanese star Munetaka Murakami. Never known for his glove, he once hit over 50 home runs in a season and as a White Sox rookie has already crashed 13 HR, while only costing them $34 million over two years.

While calling for Mendoza’s firing has not been unreasonable we all understand that he does not hit, field, or pitch, so while he can be blamed for crappy in-game decisions, chances are we could ignore those moves if the Mets were scoring 4-5 runs a game like they did last year. If they scored that way this year, their record would likely be reversed and they would still be in contention.

So, it comes down to the miscalculations of the boy wonder who has been far from wonderful. He built the Milwaukee Brewers into contenders, but let’s not forget that he still has not won anything so far. While Rome was not built in a day, this team more resembles the ancient ruins much more than a baseball team on the rise. Let’s see how adept Stearns will be trading off unproductive salaries at the trade deadline.

Mark Vientos cracked two home runs to back the strong pitching of Clay Holmes, leading the Mets to a 5-1 win Sunday afternoon in Anaheim. The victory gave the Mets the series win, as they start the nine-game road trip with a 2-1 record.

Vientos ripped a two-run homer in the fourth inning, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. He struck again in the eighth, another two-run shot. The two blasts went a combined 805 feet. Vientos’ second homer followed an RBI double by Carson Benge, as the Mets notched three runs in the inning.

Benge also made a terrific catch in the bottom of the ninth, running far to get in position and then completing the play with a diving grab.

Holmes had a rough start to his day, walking the first two batters of the game and needing 27 pitches to retire the side. He gave up one run in the frame, the only run he allowed all game. Holmes now is 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA. Extend him now.

Luke Weaver and Brooks Raley finished up, producing 2.1 scoreless innings to seal the deal.

It was a good day for the offense, which had 7 H, 4 BB and 2 HBP. Given how few walks the club has posted here recently, it was good to see four free passes.

Bo Bichette was at shortstop, with Brett Baty at 3B. Each made nice plays at their old positions. Bichette had two hits, while Baty reached base three times, with a hit, a walk and a HBP. Perhaps moving forward, those two will hit like they did a year ago while back at a familiar spot in the field.

Next up in the road trip is a visit to Colorado but there’s rain and snow in the forecast, so we’ll see how many of the three games actually gets played.

There are 24 different situations a player can come to bat during a game. There are three situations with outs – zero, one or two – and there are eight different situations with runners on base. Those eight are: nobody on, runner on first, runner on second, runner on third, runners on first and second, runners on first and third, runners on second & third and bases loaded. Multiply the out scenarios by the runners-on scenario and you get 24.

It should be obvious to everyone that these 24 situations are not created equally. It’s a whole lot easier to score with the bases loaded and no outs compared to nobody on and two outs. Each of these 24 states has a run expectancy (RE), based on the run-scoring environment of the particular season. Runs were relatively scarce in 1968 and relatively plentiful in 2000, so it should make intuitive sense that the run expectancies were different, too.

When we combine these two things and look at how individual players perform, we get RE24. This stat is extremely useful, in a context-dependent point of view. Simply put, RE24 credits – or debits – players for their role in changing their team’s odds of scoring. The formula is:

RE24 = RE End state – RE Beginning state + Runs scored

FanGraphs lists an RE chart for a run-scoring environment of 4.15 rpg. It’s higher than that this year but we can use the chart they have to illustrate how to calculate a player’s RE24. Let’s say a hitter comes to the plate with a runner on third and nobody out. The RE Beginning state here is 1.426 runs. Let’s say the batter hits a double, scoring a run and leaving a runner on second. The RE End state is no outs and a runner on second – or 1.068 from the chart. That leaves our hitter’s RE24 as: (1.068 - 1.426) + 1 = 0.642

That’s an excellent result for the hitter and his RE24 goes up. With a runner on second, rather than third, the next hitter will not have an RE Beginning state as high, but is still in a good spot. Now let’s contrast this with a different situation. Instead of a double, let’s have the batter strike out. The RE End state is runner on third with one out – or 0.865 from our chart. That leaves our hitter’s RE24 for the PA as: (0.865 – 1.426) + 0 = (-0.561) – that’s a poor result for the hitter and his RE24 goes down

As mentioned earlier, this is a context-dependent stat. While it’s not perfect, it gives you a great idea on who is taking advantage the most with the opportunities they have. A stat like wRC is context-neutral and doesn’t measure what the outcome meant in the specific situation it occurred. RE24 tells you how what the batter did impacted the specific at-bat in question.

Now that we know what RE24 is, let’s see how the 2026 Mets are doing in this particular stat:

5.96 – Juan Soto
1.95 – MJ Melendez

These are the only two players on the club with a positive RE24. These are the players who’ve come thru more often than they’ve failed. It’s unusual that two players who are not among the team’s leaders in PA are hands-down the most productive here, the ones you should want to see come up in key situations.

Here’s how the rest of the team, those with at least 50 PA, have performed in RE24:

(-0.96) – Tyrone Taylor
(-1.18) – Luis Robert Jr.
(-1.60) – Francisco Lindor
(-2.84) – Brett Baty
(-2.88) – Mark Vientos
(-3.17) – Marcus Semien
(-3.27) – Jorge Polanco
(-3.68) – Bo Bichette
(-6.65) – Francisco Alvarez
(-7.93) – Carson Benge

While Alvarez has the highest wRC+ of the half-dozen Mets with at least 100 PA, his hits haven’t been very timely. And Benge is the worst of both worlds, as his 41 wRC+ and (-7.93) RE24 show. The Mets are really doing both the player and the team a disservice to have Benge in the majors.

Last year, the Mets finished the season with seven hitters with a positive RE24, led by Soto with a 51.85 mark. Next was Pete Alonso with a 27.63 and Lindor was third with a 24.72 number. Luisangel Acuna brought up the rear with a (-13.73) RE24 in 193 PA.

RE24 is based on the current run environment, with league average always set to zero, which allows us to compare different seasons on an equal basis. Also, while this article so far focused exclusively on hitters, it can also be used with pitchers, with some who really advocate for it to be used to evaluate relievers.

Nine of the team’s 13 relievers have a positive RE24, with Tobias Myers leading the way with a 5.16 mark. Unfortunately, two of the four relievers with a negative RE24 are two of the club’s late-inning men. Luke Weaver has a (-2.29) while Devin Williams has a (-5.03) mark so far this season.

The Mets couldn’t score the zombie runner in their half of the 10^th and the Angels got a two-out bloop to win the game in their half, coming out with a 4-3 win Saturday night in Anaheim.

Nolan McLean got the start and gave up three runs in four innings. The Mets got stellar relief work, as Tobias Myers, Huascar Brazoban and Craig Kimbrel combined for five scoreless frames. Austin Warren took the mound in the 10^th and soon found himself with bases loaded and nobody out.

Warren got two outs but couldn’t survive the batter looping a ball off the end of the bat and into the outfield for the game-winning hit.

The Mets battled back from being down three to tie the game. But as inspiring as the comeback was, it was deflating to see the offense come up small in the 10^th. Brett Baty reached on a catcher’s interference, giving New York runners on first and second with no outs and the top of the order coming up.

But Bo Bichette grounded into a double play. With a runner on third and two outs, the Angels intentionally walked Juan Soto to bring up Francisco Alvarez. And Alvarez popped up to second to end the inning.

The Mets can still claim a series win if they can manage a rare Sunday win. Clay Holmes gets the start in the 4:07 p.m. start.

As the Mets’ handling of Carson Benge this year shows, you can’t rush greatness. We all want players to be great. But perhaps skipping steps along the way isn’t the best way to achieve that outcome. Perhaps you can accelerate greatness with aggressive promotions for top prospects. Those two statements may seem to contradict one another at first glance. But they’re not in conflict at all.

The Mets tried to skip the step of Benge having success at Triple-A. He was at the level for 103 PA in 2025 and he was not good at all. Yet instead of having him conquer Triple-A, they promoted him to the majors. In 101 PA for the Mets this year, Benge has a .504 OPS and a 43 OPS+. That shouldn’t be anyone’s definition of success, much less greatness.

People have tried to paint it as Benge getting better after a slow start. In the most-favorable way possible to the player, Benge has used a .318 BABIP in his last eight games to post a .714 OPS in 28 PA. That’s certainly better than his season-long numbers. Yet in addition to an elevated BABIP, league average right now is a .291 mark, Benge has 0 BB and 5 Ks in this span. That combo of elevated BABIP and a 0.0 BB% is not the pathway to a successful season.

So, what is an example of a successful aggressive promotion?

A.J. Ewing played at three levels in 2025, topping out with 132 PA at Double-A. The Mets sent him back to Binghamton to start the 2026 campaign. After just 81 PA, the Mets promoted Ewing to Triple-A. His combined line at two stops at BNG was 213 PA, .342/.413/.478, for an .891 OPS. It wasn’t a hot two weeks. Shoot, it wasn’t a hot six weeks, either. Ewing put up these numbers over nine weeks.

He clearly showed a mastery of the level. If a top prospect performs at a high rate over 200 PA – it’s time to challenge him with a promotion. As much as I hated what the club did with Benge, I love what they did with Ewing. Now, he might not produce similar numbers at Triple-A, even though he’s got off to a tremendous start there in his first three games. And that’s okay. But my opinion was that there was no reason for him to keep proving he could hit Double-A pitching.

Last year, the Mets kept Jett Williams in Double-A for 421 PA before promoting him to Syracuse. Williams also had 127 PA in Binghamton prior to 2025. He didn’t have success previously at the level, so it made perfect sense to have him start off the 2025 season back at Double-A. But they should have promoted him before they did.

After 235 PA at BNG in 2025, Williams had a .305/.409/.535 line for a .944 OPS. He had nothing left to prove at Double-A. The Mets should have promoted him at that point. Instead, they kept him in Double-A for another 186 PA. When he finally got the call to SYR, he only got to amass 131 unsuccessful PA at Triple-A. Perhaps if he had another 186 PA at the top level, he would have ended the year there on a better note.

Of course, the Mets traded Williams in the offseason and he’s back at the Triple-A level. He started the year off with 103 disappointing PA. But in his last 33 PA, Williams is slashing .375/.394/.625 for a 1.019 OPS. My hope is that once Williams succeeds for 200-plus PA in Triple-A, they’ll call him up to the majors. Interestingly, 19 of his 30 games in the minors this year have been at 3B, giving him another potential position to play if/when he gets the call to the majors.

Which brings us to Elian Pena.

The Mets were aggressive with Pena, having him skip the FCL to begin the year in a full-season league. And early results have been very positive for Pena in the Lo-A Florida State League. The FSL can be challenging due to the MLB dimensions of the parks throughout the league. Yet you wouldn’t know it by Pena’s production. In 110 PA, Pena has a .348/.464/.472 line for a .936 OPS. Yes, that comes with an unsustainable .420 BABIP, which is high even by minor league standards. But a 16.2 BB% shows it’s not all singles falling in.

Ideally, you’d see more power from Pena than the .124 ISO he has currently. Last year, in 223 PA in the Dominican Summer League in his age-17 season, Pena had a .236 ISO – so there’s power in there that he’s not currently tapping.

Still, a .936 OPS isn’t anything to dismiss lightly. Now the question becomes: If Pena still has results like this in a sample twice as large – will the Mets treat him like they did Ewing and promote him, or will they keep Pena in Lo-A longer, like they did with Williams?

You can certainly make the case that since he skipped a level to start with, there’s no reason to rush a promotion for Pena. It’s hard to argue with that logic. Still, I keep coming back to how you treat top prospects with a chance to be great. The Mets have never had a great IFA hitter, so it’s not very instructive to view how the club has treated a player like Pena previously.

But the roster does include a great foreign-born player in Juan Soto. Here’s how Soto progressed thru the Nationals’ farm system as a prospect:

Soto began his professional career in the short-season Gulf Coast League, essentially what we call the FCL today. In 183 PA, Soto had a .960 OPS, after which the Nats promoted him to a higher short-season league, the New-York Penn, where he had a 1.071 OPS in 24 PA.

In 2017, Soto opened in Lo-A, where he posted a .950 OPS in 96 PA before landing on the IL with an ankle injury. He missed two months and when he returned, he found himself back in the GULF, where he had an .810 OPS in 27 PA.

The next season saw Soto back in Lo-A. But in 74 PA, he did even better than he did before the previous year’s injury, posting a 1.300 OPS in 74 PA, forcing the promotion to Hi-A. After 73 PA at the higher A-ball level, the Nats had seen enough and had Soto finish his minor league season in Double-A. All he did there as a 19 year old was to post a .981 OPS in 35 PA. Next up was the majors, where he amassed 494 PA with a .923 OPS. That season, which started in Lo-A, ended up with Soto finishing second in the Rookie of the Year running.

The Nationals were even more aggressive with Soto than my hopes for Ewing and Pena. It’s interesting to wonder how they would have acted if Soto didn’t have the ankle injury in 2017. Regardless, the bottom line is that they didn’t let greatness waste away at any minor league level for very long.

It’s not fair to compare any prospect to Soto, who is now one of the top three hitters in the game. Still, it seems to me that there’s a lesson in there somewhere. When a top prospect aces a level – you don’t keep him there just for kicks. Instead, you promote him and see how ready he is for the next challenge. Soto was unusual, in that he was always ready for the next stop – even the majors.

Ewing’s got off to a very fast start in Triple-A. It will be curious to see if the Mets do what the Brewers are doing with Williams – having him play a different position to give him an additional shot for playing time in the majors. Ewing played some second base in the minors. But after logging 26 games in the infield in 2024, Ewing played just 19 there in 2025 and just four here so far in 2026.

Now, outfield may be just as big of a need for the Mets as 2B. Still, I’d like to see Ewing get more time at second while he’s in the minors. Reports are that he’s better suited for OF. And there’s no reason he can’t play the majority of games on the grass, with a handful on the dirt to keep his skills sharp.

Meanwhile, Pena can keep playing SS, even if he’s not likely to play that position in the majors. There’s time before he reaches the show for him to log time at third base, or wherever the club views his future home. Right now, his focus should be on hitting, as it looks like he’ll be great with a bat in his hand. My sincere hope is that Pena finishes the year in Hi-A and have a meaningful number of PA there, not just some 25-PA cameo.

In my rose-colored scenario, Pena gets promoted to Hi-A, receives 200-something PA in BRK and shows enough there for the Mets to start him in Double-A in 2027. There may be very little chance of that happening. Yet my hope is that if it doesn’t, it’s because he hasn’t aced Hi-A and not because they kept him in Lo-A for much longer than they had to, based on his hitting.

It’s not a direct comparison but I still like it because it’s about embracing greatness. Here’s some lines from the movie, “The Incredibles,” where Mr. Incredible (Bob) and Elastic Girl (Helen) are discussing how to handle their son Dash, in a world which currently doesn’t embrace Supers:

BOB: You want to do something for Dash? Then let him actually compete. Let him go out for sports.
HELEN: I will not be made the enemy here. You know why we can’t do that.
BOB: Because he’d be great!

I want to see greatness in the majors as soon as possible, not languishing away in Lo-A for an entire season.

The Mets battled back from a three-run deficit, capped by a Ronny Mauricio solo homer, and edged the Angels, 4-3, Friday night in Anaheim. By getting May off to a good start, it will quiet the “Fire Carlos Mendoza!” chants for at least one day.

It didn’t look like May was going to be any different from April, as the Met quickly fell behind by three runs, thanks to a two-run homer and a SB+E2 on a steal of third. Still, it was a much better start this time out by Christian Scott, who didn’t walk a batter. But his old bugaboo showed up once more. Scott gave up 10 HR in 42.1 IP in the minors in 2024 and 8 HR in 47.1 IP in the majors that year. Now he has 1 HR in 6.1 IP in the majors here in 2026.

But that’s a lot better ratio than the 5 BB in 1.1 IP he had for the Mets before tonight. It looked like Scott was going to get the chance to pitch six innings, as he had thrown 74 pitches thru five. But with an extended time at plate for the Mets in the top of the sixth, Mendoza went to his pen.

The Mets used four relievers to finish up, combining for no runs, no hits, no walks and six strikeouts, with Devin Williams finishing up for the save, the club’s first since April 5^th. In all, Mets pitching retired the last 21 batters in a row by the Angels.

Trailing by three runs, Bo Bichette started off the sixth inning with perhaps the most important play of the game. The Mets were being handcuffed by the Angels’ starter and Bichette hit a line drive up the middle that caught the pitcher flush in the knee, forcing him from the game.

Small-ball advocates in the land rejoiced, as the Mets strung together four singles and an out to plate three runs, one scoring on a line-drive single up the middle by Francisco Alvarez and two on a 10-hopper by Marcus Semien.

Mauricio had the game-winning hit when he crushed a ball 421 feet to center field for his first homer of the year. The pitch was a four-seam fastball at the top of the zone, one Mauricio hammered to the tune of a 111.3 exit velocity. Why anyone throws Mauricio anything besides a breaking ball below the knees is a mystery to me. But it gave the Mets a rare win, which is all that matters.

When our players arrived in Port St. Lucie for Spring Training, you had high expectations for the club and so did we. We added several key pieces to our team, but things have not turned out how we planned. You are rightfully disappointed and so are we.

This is not where we wanted to be in 2023. Our goal is to be a consistent contender. The only way to do this in a sustainable way is to build a pipeline of high caliber talent in our farm system that will fuel our major league team for years to come.

As we approached the trade deadline, we made the decision to expedite that process. It became clear we needed to pivot and build for the future. The trades we made over the last several days have allowed us to do that. In a very short period of time, we have infused an unprecedented amount of top-tier prospects into our system that would otherwise have taken years to accumulate.

This impassioned statement was made to the public during a disappointing season that started with high expectations and culminated in a fire sale that had them going long on futures.

The Cohens made one thing clear that day: the children were going to be the future. If that meant blowing everything up to rebuild, the Cohens were willing to take that risk, attendance be-damned. Someone had the brass to finally do it.

Prior to this, in 2022, the Mets made a huge push at the end of that season to get everyone acclimated with the “Baby Mets,” which included catcher Francisco Alvarez, and infielders Brett Baty and Mark Vientos (and Ronny Mauricio if we extend the definition of “Baby”). The thought of going younger was always there, they were just going full throttle now.

Almost immediately, the man behind the 2023 fire sale, Billy Eppler, was dismissed in favor of Cohen’s long-desired future President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns. 2024 had low expectations with new manager Carlos Mendoza, who replaced former Mets Manager of the Year Buck Showalter.

Then the “OMG Mets” happened. Then 2025 happened. Now <gestures wildly> all this in 2026. The Mets haven’t even played a game in May!

If Mets Ownership wants to be successful, and truly build for the long term, they need to decide what, exactly, the New York Mets are going to be. Right now, there does not seem to be a vision and most importantly, there is a lack of execution.

Years prior, Stearns had worked with former Mets GM Omar Minaya, who spoke glowingly about the young man at the time. Minaya felt Stearns had a real future in baseball operations, especially with the Mets.

Perhaps, though, Stearns is far more suited for smaller markets, as he seems almost timid in New York as a wanna-be version of Theo Epstein, Sure, he’s made some bold moves like signing generational talent Juan Soto long term; but he was also responsible for trading homegrown fan favorite Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien, losing Mets all-time home run leader Pete Alonso to free agency, and allowing closer Edwin Diaz space to receive a slightly better offer from the reigning World Champs Los Angeles Dodgers.

In “Back to Plan A,” I theorized that the “core” had only had two playoff years and the rest mediocre at best, and that the long term vision was derailed by short term success in 2024. Therefore, in 2025, perhaps Stearns felt the need to shake things up to stay on the path in 2026. Understandable, but perhaps short sighted. As the wins have been far under replacement.

While Stearns dismissed Showalter, and they hired Carlos Mendoza, a first-time manager, they also kept the previous coaching staff relatively intact. After the disappointing finish to 2025, Mendoza stayed while a brand new coaching staff was brought in. Now, the coaches and manager cannot seem to get on the same page as the players who are mostly also very new. Why is that?

The problem now seems to almost be the spoils of the riches. Meaning, there is a ton of talent in the minors, and with the addition of mercenaries like Soto, Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, and Devin Williams, there seems to be a lack of cohesion with how, exactly, the future Mets are going to fit into the, uh, future.

The future is bright, or rather it could be. Under Cohen, the Mets have not been afraid to “go there,” making bold moves and getting rid of parts they feel no longer serve them. Certainly it’s a departure from the old Wilpon insanity way of doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results.

I can’t help but wonder though, what is next in the “Underpants — ? — Profit!” methodology of the Cohen’s Mets model. Underpants meaning “shoring up the farm system and prospects” and “?” meaning “what the heck they plan to do with them.”

Considering that after all these years, the front office still has no clue what to do with Baty, Vientos and Mauricio. While Alvarez has been a great catcher defensively, he is still labeled as having “potential.” After three seasons in the majors, his potential should be translating into actual results.

Same goes for Vientos and Baty. Whether being non-tendered, traded or packaged in a larger deal, it’s clear neither of these players have a future with the Mets. As a fan, I’m tired of hearing about what they should be doing, and I’d like to see what can do. Yet, if they try to move those players, what kind of value could they possibly get in return? Mauricio, at this point, is just a lost cause.

While Luisangel Acuña, included in the Luis Robert trade to the Chicago White Sox, hasn’t exactly been lighting it up in the Windy City, he was considered a bonafide talent at the time of his trade to the Mets. While Max Scherzer went and won a championship with Acuña’s former team, the Texas Rangers, I. 2023, Acuña was the chip in the Luis Robert trade, who is now out with a herniated disc.

Nothing seems to be going the Mets way. Yet, in 2023, the fire sale approval by the upper management seemed to set in motion a chaotic no-vision-lack-of-execution by doing too much and potentially all of it too soon.

Replacing Showalter with Mendoza? Fine, but replacing all of the coaches who succeeded in 2024 and 2025, leaves this new team and coaching staff scrambling to find their identity. Like who are the 2026 Mets exactly? They don’t know, and that’s the problem.

Are they trying to be the reverse-1994 Montreal Expos and be prepared for the potential work stoppage next year with a young team ready to win multiple championships after they come out of it?

It is entirely fair that this underperformance, nay, non performance is frustrating to those of us who watch and love this team.

It’s tough to beg the patience of a fan base who has shown nothing but that over the years. Seeing nothing but either “win now” or “meaningful games in September” teams, so it was somewhat refreshing to see an owner who isn’t afraid to take risks.

So, Uncle Steve Cohen, what is it? This is your team now. Three seasons ago, a bold new initiative was announced, and steps were taken to ensure that the Mets as we knew it would never exist like that again.

Was the plan for it to get worse before it gets better? If so, I doubt the plan was for it to be this bad.

Like those investments you make at your firm, you are able to now execute them, Uncle Steve. Many people have put their faith in you, and it seems like there is a hurry-up-and-wait situation going on here. Waiting might not be an option right now, especially if Citi Field will be a ghost town this summer.

It was all set up for the paint-by-numbers managing to bring home the win. The Mets had the lead after six innings, with their three trusted relievers all rested and ready to go. But Luke Weaver served up a gopher ball and the Mets went down to defeat again, this time by a 5-4 margin. They finished the homestand a dismal 3-6.

Mark Vientos delivered an RBI double to put the Mets ahead, 4-3. Carlos Mendoza brought on Brooks Raley to start the seventh inning, even though the lefties were going to be in the eighth. Raley had a 1-2-3 frame, preserving the lead.

But with three straight lefties, Weaver gave up a leadoff single in the eighth and then a homer to the third batter he faced, on a changeup that didn’t move and ended up middle-middle.

The Mets got their leadoff batter on base in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but managed just one run. Pinch-hitter Francisco Alvarez delivered a two-out double in the ninth but Ronny Mauricio struck out to end the game.

Freddy Peralta gave the Mets six innings. Unfortunately, his error led to two unearned runs and an early 3-0 deficit.

But MJ Melendez belted a 3-run homer to tie the game.

The Mets had four extra-base hits and were robbed of two others. Juan Soto missed a homer with a shot of his being caught over the fence. And Bo Bichette hit a sinking liner that looked like a double but was caught on a diving grab.

It was a tough one to lose but at least the bats showed more fight than the night before.