A seven-game losing streak after reaching that high watermark began the downfall. Then it was a win a few, lose a few and zero consistency, which makes sense since the offensive production, while with decent numbers statistically, has been quite inconsistent all season. Oh, and the starting rotation, after getting off to a surprisingly terrific start, fell apart. And let’s not forget the relief corps…inconsistent is being kind. And the trade deadline reinforcements are all just dreadful reminders of some acquisition that the Mets fans would love to forget so I won’t name him. OK, I will – Darrin Ruf.
The Mets did have a bit of a resurgence and made a run, and even overtook the Phillies to reclaim first place with a seven-game win streak near the end of July. They were actually 1 ½ games in front on July 27. But then the dog days of August came and the bottom fell out. They lost 14 of 16 games and eight straight in September.
Not exactly the kind of run a team makes that leads to a successful post season appearance.
The Mets have gone 33-50 since they were 45-24 on June 12. The Colorado Rockies, the team with the worst record in Major League Baseball this season, have gone 28-55 over the same 83-game span. Not much worse.
The Rockies have still drawn 2.2 million fans so far this season, good enough for ninth in MLB. The Mets, of course, have been at, or near, the top of their division all season so it’s no surprise that they are fourth in MLB, topping over 3 million in attendance already.
If the Mets had been near the cellar and having a poor season at the beginning of the year, the perspective would be seen much differently. If the Mets were 33-50, and then went 45-24 to surge back into contention and into the post season, there would definitely be a more positive take on it all. But the reality is that if it DID happen the opposite way, the team would be playing well going into the stretch drive and on into the post season. But the reality is that they are playing poorly, look inept, the fundamentals are lacking, and the execution just isn’t there.
Looking back, Steve Cohen said that the Mets would be winning a championship around this time, that this season would be the one. From the looks of it, that forecast just might be changing.
