For a good portion of April, the New York Mets looked competent. More than competent, actually, as they were 12-3 in a stretch through April 20, a stretch that included series wins over the Braves, Dodgers and Royals. The proverbial wheels fell off since and they enter Thursday with a 7-19 record and -44 run differential in May.
Of course, the Mets' Meltdown May isn't just the record and how badly they've been outscored. It has been so much more. Let's walk through it.
May 1: Tough challenge loss
After failing to score with two on and no out in the bottom of the eighth while trailing the Cubs 1-0, the Mets appeared to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Instead, Pete Alonso was thrown out at home on a would-be sac fly, even though the throw from left fielder Ian Happ was cut off for a relay throw. It looked in live action like Alonso had snuck his hand under catcher Miguel Amaya and was safe, but the main discussion was about whether Amaya had illegally blocked the plate. The umpires confirmed on reveiw that Amaya was positioned legally and the Mets took the hard loss. They'd now lost seven of 10 since their hot streak ended.Full story here.
And we're off!
May 11: Nearly no-hit
The good news here was J.D. Martinez hit a home run. The bad news is it was the Mets' first hit of the game and it came with two outs in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss to the Braves. Full story here.
May 16: Owner Steve Cohen denies content of deleted tweet
On May 15, Mets owner Steve Cohen replied to a comment (that he was not tagged in) online with "all in the future, not much we can do until trade deadline." At best, that certainly seemed to imply they'll be sellers in July before said deadline, as they look to build for the future. But then Cohen deleted the reply, said it was meant to be a DM and insisted "we're still very capable of making the playoffs." Full story here.
We've heard plenty over the years about the "Bronx Zoo," but when the owner is committing a faux pas like this, we're entering Queens Zoo territory.
May 18: Díaz keeps falling apart
A day after losing 8-0 to the hapless Marlins, the Mets held a 7-2 lead going to the bottom of the seventh inning against those same hapless Marlins. Miami scored three runs in the seventh, but it was still a 7-5 game. The Mets then added two in the top of the ninth. A 9-5 lead with closer Edwin Díaz entering the game should have been safe. It wasn't. He gave up four runs and the Marlins won, 10-9, in 10 innings. It dropped the Mets to 20-25.
The All-World closer from 2022, who missed all of 2023 due to an injury, had now blown three saves (and remember, with a four-run lead, this one didn't even count as a blown save) with a 10.80 ERA in his last eight outings. In that same span, he had one successful save.
May 25: Lindor watches strike, Díaz melts down again
The Mets had a one-run lead with a runner on second when Francisco Lindor decided to not even try to swing at strike three against Giants.
Francisco Lindor just admiring a nice breaking ball pic.twitter.com/H7CFjhpjlb
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 25, 2024
Without the insurance run, Díaz allowed a run in the ninth as the Giants tied the game. Then the Giants scored five runs in the top of the 10th and the Mets lost, 7-2. They fell to 21-30.
"He hadn't thrown a strike [in the at-bat]," Lindor said (via the New York Post). "I made every pitch a strike [by swinging outside the zone] and was helping him out. My best bet was to take a pitch. It just so happened that was the one strike the whole at-bat."
The game caused the Mets' broadcast crew -- one of the best in the majors, if not the best -- to illustrate the situation as follows:
Keith Hernandez: "Boy oh boy. It feels like the sky is falling."
Ron Darling: "There's losing and then there's what's happening here and it's two different things. This is just gut-wrenching."
Gary Cohen: "The Mets are now 9-22 in their last 31 games. Remember, the sun will come up tomorrow, as difficult as that may be to realize."
Ongoing: Senga setbacks
The most reliable starter on the staff this seasonwas supposed to be Kodai Senga, an All-Star who finished seventh in Cy Young voting last season. He was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings in 2023, his first year in Major League Baseball.
He's been out all season with a shoulder injury. On May 13 (story here), amid questions about how long his recovery process was taking, Senga revealed that he was actually trying to overhaul his mechanics, rather than progressing through his bullpen sessions.
"With my current mechanics, I didn't think I'd be able to come back at 100%," he told reporters through an interpreter.
It's probably not great for this to be a point of discussion in mid-May.
More recently, Senga had an issue in his triceps and got a cortisone shot before playing catch and working his way up to bullpen sessions (SNY), but it's seemingly been one thing after another, continuing to delay his return.
May 29: Díaz hits IL
Closer Edwin Díaz, who had temporarily been removed from the closer role as his struggles continued, now has landed on the injured list with a shoulder injury (full story here). He has a 5.40 ERA and 1.25 WHIP while having blown four of his last five save chances and, again, that doesn't include the four-run meltdown in Miami.
May 29: Alonso hit on hand, leaves game
All-Star slugger Pete Alonso was hit on his right hand by a pitch in the first inning Wednesday and left the game. X-rays were negativeand the CT scan reportedly revealed no fracture, but Alonso is reportedly being considered day to day. If the Mets are sellers, Alonso is the biggest trade chip they have. If they somehow crawl back into the playoff race, he's the middle-order slugger that they need to help carry the offense. He's also in a contract year.
May 29: López's all-around debacle
Mets reliever Jorge López on Wednesday night was part of a Mets' bullpen collapse against the Dodgers that turned a 3-3 into a 10-3 loss in just two innings. Then he was ejected and threw his glove into the crowd and he was only getting started. After the game he either called the Mets "the worst team in probably the whole f---ing MLB" or called himself the "worst teammate." He says he meant to say teammate about himself. The Mets are reportedly set to designate him for assignment. Full story here.
Wednesday night had to be rock bottom, right?
Since they won 12 of 15, the Mets are 10-25. That's the worst record in all of baseball since April 20. The 7-19 May (so far) matches their 7-19 record last June -- a disaster of a month that helped trigger a sell-off before the trade deadline. Last time, they traded away Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Mark Canha and Tommy Pham.
Who might go this year?
Alonso is the top name. Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and Harrison Bader are on one-year deals and productive enough to land something in return. Maybe they can shed the last year of Starling Marte (he's signed through 2025), though his barely-above-average OPS+ and his $19.5 million paycheck for next season makes that a tough ask. J.D. Martinez could be of interest on the market.
It's a discussion that can wait.
For now, Mets fans can simply lament the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month of May from the Queens Zoo.
