Amongst the World Series favourites at the start of the year, the Mets are now last in their division having not won a game since April 7th
It’s still a far cry from the record of 23 games that the Philadelphia Phillies achieved in 1961 with 23 losses, but the New York Mets currently sit at 12 games without a win with an expensive roster and the richest current owner in the MLB.
The 12th loss of the run came last night, as despite Starting Pitcher Nolan Mclean going perfect in 5 innings of work and Francisco Lindor’s second home run of the season, the Minnesota Twins managed to come back and score two runs in the 9th and beat the Queen’s team.
In fact, this hasn’t been the only close game they’ve given up. 5 of the 12 games including last night were games in which the Met’s lost by 2 runs or less, potentially showing struggles to finish out the game and secure wins.
Another example of this came against the Cubs in the final game of a three game stint at Wrigley Field on Sunday, where Chicago would score two runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat New York two to one.
It also early on doesn’t help the Mets case for a fight back towards top spot in the National League East, with the Atlanta Braves atop of the division, with a joint best 16 wins. Fellow powerhouse in the NL East the Philadelphia Phillies are also struggling at the start of the season, with an 8 and 15 record.
However, the Met’s have been without their star $750 million man Juan Soto, who’s been on the IL for 14 days, but is set to return tonight against the Twins. The 27-year-old Dominican phenom has been injured with a strained right calf, and had a .355 average with 11 hits before he went down with injury
Speaking after the loss last night, Met’s manager Carlos Mendoza spoke on the return of the Outfielder to his lineup;
“It definitely helps, but we cannot put all the pressure on one player. Yes, his presence in the lineup, nobody’s going to deny that. But putting all the pressure on, ‘Oh, we’re going to have Juan Soto, all of a sudden you start winning,’ that’s not fair for him either.”
With the Met’s facing the Minnesota Twins at home in Flushing for another two games, now feels like the perfect time to not only end the slide, but start a strong home stand, which includes eight games including tonight.
