Mets botch homestand, Struggle Circus now heads west

“This is just the beginning,” Juan Soto told Steve Gelbs on SNY right after his New York Mets topped the Washington Nationals 8-0 on Tuesday, a game in which Soto’s two-run homer capped the scoring. “We’re starting something special right here. We’re trying to go all the way. This is just a little taste of what it’s going to be at the end.”

At the time, Soto’s comments were welcome with open arms. The Mets had just endured a humiliating three-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies over the weekend—the same Rockies who finished last in the NL West last year with 119 losses and a comically bad -424 run differential—so shutting out the lowly Nats had big pick-me-up potential.

Rather, Soto’s beginning ended faster than he could blink while chasing a carrying fly ball in the outfield. Washington pulverized the Mets in a rainy 14-2 route, with David Peterson and Sean Manaea giving up a combined 13 earned runs in 6.1 innings. Soto added a solo home run early, but it only cut the Nats’ lead to 2-1 at the time. However, even that seems preferable to Thursday’s afternoon tilt.

The Nationals led 3-0 before MJ Melendez slugged a game-tying home run off of Miles Mikolas. Three innings later, Soto led off with a walk before Melendez sacrifice-bunted him over to second, and then he scored on Mark Vientos’ double. New York held the lead headed into the top of the 8th inning and Luke Weaver—signed for $22 million in free agency—on the mound.

And as has become the norm for the former Yankee, Weaver struggled again and notched his second blown save of the season. Luis García Jr. hammered the first pitch of the inning up the middle for a single, then moved to second on a fielder’s choice. Weaver then fell behind 2-1 on Washington shortstop CJ Abrams before hanging a changeup, which Abrams parked 403 feet over the fence.

Needless to say, the Mets did not rally back. Soto had two hits, but also a home run robbed by James Wood.

Something special indeed. The Mets entered a nine-game homestand to play three non-playoff teams: Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington. None are expected to finish remotely close to the playoff picture. Instead, the Mets went 3-6 and, worse yet, sit last in the NL East with a -35 run differential compared to Colorado’s much-improved mark at -7.

But wait, it somehow gets worse. Yes, we’re serious. What’s the worst thing that can happen to a team that’s down bad and desperate for solutions on how to improve? Why, send them on a lengthy west coast trip, of course!

The Mets now face nine games in ten days. Three each in Anaheim, Colorado, and Arizona starting on Friday. That’s jet lag, thin air, and desert heat all in one go. And kryptonite for a team that’s already beat down bad in the loss column.

Lucky for the Mets, it should be a fairly soft landing. The Angels have lost six in a row and are 1-9 in their last ten games. Only a half-game separates them from last-place Houston. The Rockies, improvements aside, are in last place. The Diamondbacks are streaky across the board, but still sit hird in the NL West. Only 3.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers.

And in theory? The Mets should win at least two of these series. Not sweep—win. Taking a clean two out of three. The Mets have no choice but to win themselves out of last place and maybe into a Wild Card conversation.

It’s not as though the season can look more lost, right? Even amidst the losses, manager Carlos Mendoza does what he can to stay optimistic after a month that was, in his words, “hard on all of us.”

“We’re in this together,” he said following Thursday’s game. “But we’ve got to keep going. We have to turn this thing around. It’s not early anymore. It’s obviously frustrating for a lot of people in here.”

In the meantime, the idea of Alex Cora in orange and blue next season sounds better by the minute.