The New York Mets‘ roller-coaster 2025 season is starting to look like a movie fans have seen before.
The Mets lost their third straight to the Philadelphia Phillies, and fifth straight overall, and are suddenly just two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants for the final National League wild card spot with just 16 games to play.
Mets fans have been no strangers to late-season heartbreak in the past. Yet, scarier even than staring down another collapse is the fact the Mets also have one of the toughest closing schedules.
The Mets still have three-game series against fellow NL wild card occupants, the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, plus the red-hot Texas Rangers.
What Did The Mets Say About Their Recent Funk?
The Mets lineup is stacked. Their bullpen is deep. Their starting pitching, especially with callups like Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, is good enough.
Yet, the Mets sit just six games over .500 with 16 games left despite a payroll that rivals that of the reigning world-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They have multiple seven-game winning streaks this season and multiple losing streaks of seven games — and are 14-26 since July 27.
âI donât know how many times we get into streaks like this, where nothing seems to be working for us,â manager Carlos Mendoza said. âBut again, you have to stay positive.â
Things appeared to stabilize after the Mets swept the Phillies at Citi Field just two weeks ago. New York trailed Philadelphia by just four games for the NL East lead — leaving the door open for the the Mets to steal the division title — and led the Reds by five games and Giants by six.
But the Mets are just 4-9 since, including a lost series to the Reds last week in Cincinnati, which started their latest lengthy losing streak.
The stretch has once again exposed their starting pitching, since the Mets rank 25th in the majors in innings pitched by starters (731 1/3) according to FanGraphs.
“I think some guys from the rotation are having a tough stretch here,â Mendoza said. âWhen youâre playing a lot of games on the road and youâre not getting decent length or decent outings, it has a trickle-down effect on the pitching staff, on the at-bats â the game is obviously different.”
Will The Mets Make The Playoffs?
Holding a four-game lead just two days ago, the Mets had a 73.4 percent chance of making the playoffs, per Baseball Reference.
Yet, after the consecutive losses to the Phillies — and Cincinnati’s two straight wins in San Diego — the site gives the Mets just a 55 percent chance of getting in the seven-team field.
Part of the angst is the fact the Mets will close their season with six games away from Citi Field, three in Chicago and three in South Florida against the Miami Marlins.
The Mets are just 31-43 on the road this season — by far the worst road record of any team in a playoff spot in either league — and fans of a certain age will surely recall the Marlins winning Game 162 to knock the Mets out of the playoff race in back-to-back years, 2007 and 2008.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Ongoing Funk, Hellacious Schedule Leave Mets’ Playoff Chances In Doubt appeared first on Heavy Sports.