Mets Hit 12-Game Skid
- The New York Mets have dropped 12 straight games, a losing streak drawing national attention. (x.com) - Commentators labeled the stretch 'reverse Moneyball' as the team underperforms expectations early in April. (x.com) - The prolonged skid is increasing scrutiny on the front office and manager with the season still young. (x.com)
The Mets’ 12-game losing streak turned an April slump into the worst start in Major League Baseball by Tuesday night. (mlb.com) New York fell to 7-16 with a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on April 21, blowing a 3-0 lead after Francisco Lindor’s three-run homer and five perfect innings from rookie Nolan McLean. The loss was the Mets’ longest skid since 2002 and tied for the sixth-longest in franchise history. (mlb.com) Baseball-Reference listed the Mets in fifth place in the National League East at 7-16 after the 12th straight loss, with playoff odds down to 9.1 percent. By Wednesday, after a win ended the streak, the site showed New York at 8-16. (baseball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com) The skid landed harder because this roster was built to contend, not rebuild. MLB.com reported FanGraphs gave the Mets a 79.5 percent chance to make the postseason at the start of the season, the third-highest mark in the sport, before that figure fell to 41.3 percent during the streak. (mlb.com) David Stearns, the club’s president of baseball operations, said the biggest problem was the offense. During the first nine losses, MLB.com reported New York hit.175/.213/.257, while Stearns said, “We haven’t hit.” (mlb.com) The losing streak was not one failure repeated 12 times. Juan Soto’s injury, cold stretches from Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien, rough starts from Kodai Senga, and late bullpen losses all showed up at different points in the slide. (mlb.com, mlb.com) Manager Carlos Mendoza became part of the story as the losses piled up. MLB.com reported his job security had become “a particular point of interest,” though players pushed back, with closer Devin Williams saying after the 11th straight loss, “It’s absolutely on us.” (mlb.com) The streak finally ended Wednesday, when the Mets beat the Twins 3-2 at Citi Field. That stopped the franchise’s longest losing streak in 24 years, but it left New York digging out from an 8-16 start in the season’s first month. (sports.yahoo.com, baseball-reference.com)
