{"id":705648,"date":"2026-05-22T10:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/705648\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:31:11","slug":"after-disastrous-50-games-mets-ponder-road-ahead-play-better-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/705648\/","title":{"rendered":"After disastrous 50 games, Mets ponder road ahead: ‘Play better now’"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 This very nothing New York Mets<\/a> season has reached the 50-game mark with only the faintest chance of becoming something.<\/p>\n

For now, that something is very ugly: The third team in major league history to miss the playoffs with a payroll north of $300 million \u2013 following in the footsteps of the 2023<\/a> and 2025 Mets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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At 22-28, this squad heads to Miami<\/a> this weekend in a battle for last place in the National League East, though with 12 1\/2 games and three teams separating them from the Atlanta Braves<\/a>, it\u2019s best not to even peek until a significant reversal of fortune has occurred.<\/p>\n

Looking back is already painful enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all you can control: Playing better now,\u201d Bo Bichette<\/a>, their prized off-season acquisition, tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cYou can\u2019t control what\u2019s already happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Athletics Lawrence Butler is tagged out by Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas as he tires to extend his double into a triple during the eighth inning at Sutter Health Park on April 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Scott Marshall, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

1 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Athletics Lawrence Butler is tagged out by Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas as he tires to extend his double into a triple during the eighth inning at Sutter Health Park on April 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Scott Marshall, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Cleveland Guardians mascot Slider interacts with fans during game against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

(David Richard, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Washington Nationals right fielder Daylen Lile attempts to catch a ball hit for a single by the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jake Mangum during the first inning at PNC Park on April 16, 2026. The Nationals won the game, 8-7.<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Gary Sanchez wears a special chest protector to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day<\/a> during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at American Family Field on April 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Benny Sieu, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

April 13: The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz celebrates a home run in the dugout while wearing a welder’s hood during the 16-5 win over the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

April 12: Philadelphia Phillies mascot, The Phanatic, entertains fans with local team mascots for a birthday celebration before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park.<\/p>\n

(Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

April 11: The Tampa Bay Rays’ Jonathan Aranda (left) celebrates with Ryan Vilade after hitting a walk-off single against the New York Yankees in the 10th inning of a 5-4 win at Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n

(Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez acknowledges the fans after becoming the team’s all-time leader in games played against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

(David Dermer, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

9 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

A rainbow appears during the fourth inning during the game between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

10 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

A fan dresses as the Pope claps during the first inning of the game between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays at Rate Field on April 5, 2026. The White Sox won the game, 3-0, to complete a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

(Matt Marton, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

11 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Konnor Griffin celebrates with a traffic cone after making his major-league debut<\/a> in a 5-4 defeat of the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park on April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

12 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

A young Red Sox fan meets Tessie the Boston Red Sox mascot before the Red Sox’s home opener against the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park on April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Eric Canha, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

13 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season (Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

14 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez (6) and center fielder Jakob Marsee celebrate a victory against the Chicago White Sox at loanDepot Park on April 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Jim Rassol, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

15 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Fans try to catch a solo home run hit by the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Chapman as San Diego Padres left fielder Nick Castellanos looks on during the third inning at Petco Park on March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Denis Poroy, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

16 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Phillies mascot The Phillie Phanatic entertains fans during the game against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

17 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays’ Kazuma Okamoto gets doused with ice water by teammates after a win over the Athletics at Rogers Centre on March 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

(John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

18 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The Cincinnati Reds’ Eugenio Su\u00e1rez blows a bubble as he waits to bat against the Boston Red Sox at Great American Ball Park on March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Aaron Doster, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

19 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

The St. Louis Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt is doused with water by teammates after hitting a walk-off two-run single against the Tampa Bay Rays during the 10th inning at Busch Stadium on March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Jeff Curry, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

20 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Fans react as the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jake Bauers homers against the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field on March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Jovanny Hernandez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)\"\"<\/p>\n

21 \/ 21<\/p>\n

Ballpark vibes, big plays and wild celebrations during 2026 MLB season<\/p>\n

Two F-35C planes from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron NINE Detachment Edwards Air Force Base perform a flyover before the Opening Day<\/a> game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Kirby Lee, Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s happened has been jarring: Devastating injuries mixed with heartwarming debuts. Underperforming superstars and soul-crushing blown leads. A sense of disbelief as division clubs like the Marlins<\/a> and Washington Nationals<\/a> \u2013 ranked 29th and 27th, respectively, in payroll \u2013 have outperformed their $357 million roster.<\/p>\n

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Behind the financial might of owner Steve Cohen and smarts of club president David Stearns, this was supposed to be a machine. Yet after an uneven winter\u2019s worth of moves from Stearns, something resembling a worst-case scenario has emerged.<\/p>\n

The Mets rank 29th in the majors in OPS, and while their pitching staff ranks fourth in strikeouts and 11th in ERA, a bullpen that until recently blew more saves than they nailed down made consistency elusive.<\/p>\n

Is this season already a sunk cost? Probably, though 112 games are far too many to write off. The question is whether they can materially reverse all the factors that got them into this mess.<\/p>\n

Get better<\/p>\n

The Mets\u2019 many health woes seem to sting even more given the grim cosmic timing of it all.<\/p>\n

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Such as All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor<\/a> suffering a strained calf one day after $765 million slugger Juan Soto<\/a> returned from a 15-game absence due to a right calf strain. Or the club seemingly righting itself by taking a series off the New York Yankees<\/a> \u2013 only for Clay Holmes<\/a>, arguably their best starting pitcher, suffering a fractured tibia May 15 that threatens to end his season.<\/p>\n

And so this season has been truncated for so many: Lindor is likely out through mid-June and has played in just 24 of 50 games; Soto\u2019s posted just 35 times in 50 games.<\/p>\n

Yet some of the wounds are arguably self-inflicted.<\/p>\n

Stearns signed Jorge Polanco<\/a>, who turns 33 in July, to a two-year, $40 million contract to hold down part of first base; he has played in just 14 games due to left Achilles bursitis.<\/p>\n

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And Stearns traded for center fielder Luis Robert<\/a> even as the former Chicago White Sox<\/a> has played more than 110 games just once in his career. Robert has missed 24 games with a back injury and manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday, May 21 that he\u2019s not nearing baseball activities.<\/p>\n

With all the injuries, the last thing the club needed was Bichette to struggle in his new environment.<\/p>\n

Bo answers the bell<\/p>\n

Bichette banged out 181 hits, posted an .840 OPS and capped his Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> career by blasting a three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani<\/a> in Game 7 of the World Series<\/a>. The Blue Jays fell short and moved on, and Bichette accepted a $42 million annual salary \u2013 it\u2019s his option to come back in 2027 and 2028 \u2013 with the Mets.<\/p>\n

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At 28, and the son of a big leaguer, you\u2019d think Bichette would know enough about adjustments and new starts. Yet it\u2019s almost impossible to feel out of sorts going through it the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of things I don\u2019t think I anticipated \u2013 getting used to a new locker room, staff, a new division,\u201d says Bichette. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things for sure you have to adjust to.\u201d<\/p>\n

His early production reflected that. Bichette needed 68 plate appearances to hit his first home run, and after an April in which he batted .230, added a 2-for-32 skid over nine games in May. He also moved to third base for the first time in his career and then shifted back to shortstop after Lindor got hurt.<\/p>\n

He might be waking up: Bichette slammed three homers in three games against the Nationals this week and hit a go-ahead two-run single in the series finale that held up for a split-salvaging 2-1<\/a> victory.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe know he\u2019s one of the best hitters \u2013 he\u2019s been that type of player. I think it\u2019s just a matter of time,\u201d says Mendoza. “You see a player that is confident, that is putting some A swings on pitches, that is pulling the ball and using the whole field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy we know. The type of hitter he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is he playing better because he\u2019s more comfortable?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think playing better,\u201d says Bichette, \u201cbrings more comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fair enough. But can the Mets play better enough for it to matter?<\/p>\n

Long past go time<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true: You\u2019re never really out of it in this modern playoff format, with three wild cards and not much more than 80 wins required to earn an invitation.<\/p>\n

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Yet even by these lax standards, the Mets don\u2019t match up to most modern success stories at the 50-game mark.<\/p>\n

Bichette\u2019s Blue Jays were just 25-25 in 2025, and in ninth place in the AL at that point. Seven games later, they topped .500 for good, won the AL East and were two outs from a championship.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Tigers<\/a> rode \u201cpitching chaos\u201d to rise up from waving a white flag at the trade deadline to the AL Division Series. Yet through 50 games they were in better shape than these Mets: 23-27, in 11th place in the AL.<\/p>\n

After they fired Joe Girardi, the 2022 Phillies<\/a> made a wild rise all the way to the World Series. They were 21-29 through 50, though they were in 10th place in the NL.<\/p>\n

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And no run was quite so improbable as the 2019 Nationals<\/a>, who in a year with just two wild cards started 19-31, next-to-last in the NL, yet finished 74-38 and won the World Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These Mets? At 22-28, their record lines up with some of the recent great comebacks. They\u2019ve won 12 of their last 19 games to crawl out of their darkest depths.<\/p>\n

Yet the bigger issue is their record is 12th out of 15 NL teams. It is a good year for the senior circuit, with nine teams over .500, including the entire NL Central. Any miracle run will likely have to come from within.<\/p>\n

A game like Thursday\u2019s win over the Nationals will help. Closer Devin Williams<\/a> survived a misplay by rookie center fielder A.J. Ewing to strand a leadoff double at second base in the ninth inning; Bichette\u2019s two-run single held up thanks to a taut five-pitcher effort.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe got a long road ahead of us,\u201d says Williams, who saved his seventh game in eight opportunities. \u201cWe just gotta keep stacking good days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Put another way: The final two-thirds of this season has to be better than the first. Right?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just keep on going,\u201d says Bichette. \u201cSometimes it takes longer to find your identity as a team, to find what you believe in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York Mets ponder dismal start to 2026 season after 50 games<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 This very nothing New York Mets season has reached the 50-game mark with only the faintest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[46,5,88,1443,49,1712,9411,83,227,120,134,369,101,778,4,9258,1690,61,62,2548,4203,468,70,71],"class_list":["post-705648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-baseball","tag-bo-bichette","tag-carlos-mendoza","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-clay-holmes","tag-david-stearns","tag-devin-williams","tag-francisco-lindor","tag-jorge-polanco","tag-juan-soto","tag-luis-robert","tag-mets","tag-miami","tag-mlb","tag-national-league-east","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-washington-nationals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116617773171990717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}