Just 5 short days ago the Mets experienced a great moment sweeping the Yankees in a doubleheader highlighted by a walk off homer off the bat of Amed Rosario. But they have not won a game since that night looking listless and lifeless here in Baltimore on the first night of September.
Luis Rojas insists his team can still get back in it but the math will be very challenging. They sit at 15 and 21 with 24 games remaining and just to get to .500 they would need to go 15 and 9 and their schedule gets tougher this month. For instance this week after playing here in Baltimore tomorrow they go home for a make up game with the Yankees and then host the Phillies in a 4 game series at Citi.
The math is really tough for this team because they presently trail both the Marlins and Phils by 3 and a half games for that second place spot in the division which would assure a playoff spot. They do have 7 games left with the Phils but are done with the Marlins so they will need to rely on help from other teams even if they pass the Phils.
If they don’t get that help, they will then be put in the wild card chase and despite the fact many of those teams have sub 500 records those marks are still better than where the mets sit.
But math aside, tonight here in Baltimore I saw a listless team that despite coming back to tie the games on a Gimenez homer, they fell behind in the very next inning. And that is the mark of an unfocused team.The last 5 days we have seen the Mets combine subpar starting pitching with bullpen meltdowns and coupled that with shoddy defense and poor at bats in RBI situations. So, there is enough blame to go around but they need to snap out of it or this Defcon 5 state this team is in right now will spell doom for the rest of the season.
It is time for EVERY Met player to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do to contribute more? Maybe better pitch selection at the plate or maybe ways to curtail big innings limiting the damage to a run or 2 instead of a crooked number. Or better still defensively make the simple play and know before the ball is hit if it comes your way what will you do. In my opinion, Met fielders look very unprepared in those moments.
And for first year manager Luis Rojas think about the little things as well. Like was it necessary to throw Jared Hughes in the bottom of the 8th inning tonight when you trailed by 4 runs knowing you will need him fresh in the next few days? I honestly think Rojas has done an excellent job in his first season but some little things sometimes get lost in the shuffle.
This is a crossroad for this 2020 Met season and the next 6 games may very well decide whether they will have meaningful September games or if they will just be playing out the string.