The New York Mets have gone 3-7 across their last 10 games and just endured four straight road losses to the Philadelphia Phillies. As a result, they own a slim 1.5 game lead for the final National League Wild Card spot.
Former Mets starter Ron Darling recently spoke about New York’s predicament and was sure to mention a few of the reasons why the club has slipped over the past few months.
“The Mets have had one of the strangest seasons I've ever seen,” Darling said on MLB Network. “Maybe because of the great pitching in the beginning, there was some unrealistic optimism of where they were going to go.”
Darling mentioned that injuries to starters such as Kodai Senga have impacted the club, but he also highlighted a significant window of time where the team did not capitalize on a hot offensive stretch.
“I think the one thing they missed is that when they started really hitting the ball, where they were scoring over seven runs a game, about seven runs a game, they went 12-18, something like that, in that time, Darling said. “Most teams would go 20-10 if you got good pitching, you'd go 25-5. So they kind of missed their window there.”
Following Thursday’s loss to the Phillies, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza took responsibility for the squad’s struggles.
“I’m responsible. I’m the manager,” Mendoza told the New York Post. “It’s my job to get these guys going, and I will.”
New York will begin a three-game series with the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Citi Field.
