The New York Mets, at the end of August, swept the Philadelphia Phillies in New York, and put themselves in position to surpass the Phillies if they could up the pace down the stretch heading into the final month of the year.
But, since that three-game sweep, the Mets had won just four of their last nine heading into the series against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Sitting seven games back, a strong series could have the Mets right back in it.
Unfortunately, the Mets lost the first three games of the series and now sit 10 games back of the Phillies and are a long shot to win the NL East. After the game, Will Sammon of The Athletic shared comments from Francisco Lindor on the team's recent struggles amid the brutal Phillies series.
Francisco Lindor breaks silence on Mets' struggles
"We haven't been consistent. It's one of those years that things haven't clicked for a long time." Lindor said. "We're still in a position where we can make the year look completely different. Everyone here is pushing toward that."
Even though the Mets have struggled mightily in the last few series (aside from a 2-1 series win over the Detroit Tigers), the team still has a chance to do some damage this October.
The Mets are still two games up on the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants for the third and final NL wild card spot. The season is far from over for the Mets, and that's something that Lindor pointed out as what the team is aiming for.
While the team, according to Lindor, is still looking to turn things around, the big issue that needs to be fixed is the consistency. Many nights, the offense looks dominant. But there are also plenty of games where they can't score just a few more runs.
The bigger issue has been the pitching. Over the last 30 games, the Mets' pitching staff has the 26th-worst ERA at 5.41. Only the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, and Minnesota Twins are worse.
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Comparing their pitching staff to other postseason teams, the next worst pitching staff that's in the postseason race is the Seattle Mariners at a 4.65. The Mets' pitching has been bad the last 30 days, despite ranking 5th in strikeouts (255) in that same time.
During the same time that the pitching staff struggled, the Mets' offense ranks first in team OPS with an .888 OPS, a good deal higher than the New York Yankees at .823 and the Phillies at .814. Despite that strong offense, the team has faltered, losing a lot of ground in the NL East and the wild card.
As Lindor points out, a huge reason for the team's struggles is the lack of consistency. Whether it's the non-Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat outings from the pitching staff, or the offense's struggles at inopportune times, it's been a rough go of things lately for the Mets.
While they still hold a postseason spot and control their own destiny in making the postseason, with how the team's played lately, there are reasonable concerns about playing baseball this October.
But, the Mets players, despite their recent struggles, know how much damage they can do if they just make it to the postseason. Lindor mentions how the team is putting these struggles behind them and aiming to change the narrative surrounding the team this season with a strong finish to the year, along with a postseason run.
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