Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
By Sam Neumann on

The Mets are in grave danger of missing the playoffs.

The light has dimmed on New York’s chances, being that it no longer controls its own playoff destiny. Following a 6-2 loss to the Miami Marlins, the Mets are tied for the final Wild Card with the Reds. But it essentially serves as a one-game lead, given that Cincinnati currently owns the tiebreaker. If the Mets want to eek into the playoffs, they’re going to need some help from some strangers (the Brewers) and take care of their business.

The problem is that they haven’t been able to do that all season. Since a fateful day in June, the Mets have pitched poorly, played even worse defense, and haven’t been able to get the timely hit. After the final Friday night of the regular season, the Mets fell to 0-69 when trailing after eight innings in 2025.

The most clutch team in baseball a season before is now the least clutch team.

Now, there’s plenty of blame to go around, but the fifth inning of Friday night’s game was an encapsulation of roughly 60 percent of the entire season for New York. In the fifth inning, the Marlins had Brandon Sproat on the ropes. The rookie right-hander had pitched four scoreless innings before allowing three straight hits and a 2-0 lead to evaporate.

What happened next is the season in a microcosm.

Sproat recorded two ground ball outs with a runner on third. The only problem is that Pete Alonso allowed the ball to go off the lip of his glove, failing to make the play and eventually allowing the go-ahead run to score. Then Agustín Ramírez stole second base without a throw. Then he stole third base while Ronny Mauricio was playing far off the bag. Both stolen bases came against Gregory Soto, who had just entered the game.

“Giving them a free base there is kind of an inning-changer,” manager Carlos Mendoza said afterward.

Even the SNY broadcast team couldn’t hide its disgust. These are announcers who have seen plenty of Mets baseball over the years, but this is different. This is a team falling apart in real time, with everything on the line.

“And the Mets’ lack of attention to detail, which has popped up repeatedly during this slow-motion, backwards march over the last three-and-a-half months, comes up to bite them again,” play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen said.

“I mean, you might take your whole travel ball squad off the field if something like that happens,” Ron Darling chimed in. “Here’s a team that is fighting to get to October. What are you going to do in October with an inning like that?”

The nightmare inning ended with Connor Norby’s two-run homer, putting the Marlins up 6-2.

When asked after the game why his team keeps making the same mistakes, Mendoza was at a loss. “That’s a good question, obviously. It’s on me, it’s on all of us. We continue to make the same mistakes, and it’s costing us games,” the second-year manager said.

Since June 12, the Marlins are 53-41. The Mets are 37-54. That’s not a typo. Over nearly four months, a team that was supposed to be competing for a division title has been outplayed by 16 games by a rebuilding Marlins squad that’s been eliminated from playoff contention.

Even the Marlins broadcast booth couldn’t resist piling on. Announcer Kyle Sielaff watched the Mets fall apart and decided to twist the knife.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind,” he said. “The last time the Mets and the Marlins have gotten together, the Marlins have flat-out been the better baseball team. They have wanted every single game more, and they are a better team. And Mets fans can disagree, but the proof is in the pudding. They have flat-out wanted it more, and they’re the better team.”

It’s hard to argue with that assessment.

The Mets lost three of four to Miami at home earlier this month, games that now look even more damaging given where they stand. This is a team that was supposed to contend getting spoiled by a team that’s trying to play spoiler.

The Mets still have two games left, but their margin for error is gone. They need to win both remaining games and hope Cincinnati drops at least one to Milwaukee. Clay Holmes will start Saturday, followed by what amounts to a bullpen game on Sunday if necessary.

But even if they somehow claw their way into October, what exactly would they do there? As Darling asked, what happens in the playoffs with an inning like Friday’s fifth? Teams that can’t execute fundamentals in September rarely find them again in October.

And with a track record like this over the past four months, it’s hard to believe they won’t find a way to mess up what’s left.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann