Mets Can't Take Advantage of Easy Stretch, Find Themselves in 4th Place

The Mets were unable to take advantage of an easy schedule over the past two weeks, going 4-9 against sub-500 teams.

WASHINGTON - The Mets finished up what was supposed to be an easy stretch on a low note.

On Monday, the Mets got thumped by the Nationals by a score of 10-3 to split the series against the last-place team in the NL East. The Mets now find themselves in fourth place and six games back in the division.

The Mets played 13 consecutive games against losing clubs: Nationals, Tigers, Reds and Rockies and went 4-9. This not a good formula for what was expected to be a contending ball club.

New York hasn't won a series since mid-April when they took two out of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles. 

After an impressive 7-3 west coast road trip, the Mets have struggled in all facets of the game, particularly starting pitching and offense. 

The Mets, who started off 14-7, are now 20-22, having lost 15 of their last 21 games. 

They could potentially call-up top prospects Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, who are raking in Triple-A Syracuse. But these kids can't be expected to be saviors on offense, and the starting pitching has still been a big problem. 

Look no further than the struggles of David Peterson, who gave up six runs on Monday and has a 8.08 ERA on the season, when examining the woes of the starting staff. The Mets have also not had their two horses, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, pitch on a consistent basis this year, either. 

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The bottom line is this: It just hasn't been good enough. The Mets, who come home to play the Rays and Guardians, need to find a way to turn it around - and fast.

The Mets have the highest payroll in baseball ($377 million) and must start playing like it, or else they're going to reside in the basement of the NL East for the remainder of the season.

The good news is that there is a lot of baseball left, approximately 120 games. There is still time to fix it, but the weaknesses and holes have been on full display during this recent rut. 

This recent stretch was one, in which the Mets were supposed to take advantage of lesser teams. They were unable to do so, and are now left searching for answers as they head back home to Citi Field.  

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