The New York Mets are off to an MLB-worst start to the 2026 season and entered play on Friday night with a 10-21 record. This is while the Mets have the second-highest payroll in MLB.
It’s been a disaster for the Mets in the early going, and during Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Mets color commentator Todd Zeile dropped in a funny line about the struggles.
While the Angels led the Mets 3-0 in the top of the fourth inning, New York catcher Francisco Alvarez struck out swinging. Alvarez then slammed his bat over his leg, but that didn’t go as smoothly for him as it used to for Bo Jackson. The bat didn’t break, and Alvarez then hit himself in the helmet with the bat as he walked back to the dugout in frustration.
“You see him trying to break that over his knee,” Zeile, who is filling in alongside Gary Cohen for a recovering Keith Hernandez on Mets broadcasts, said. “That’s not going to feel too good. Can’t even break the bat correctly right now. Jeez.”
It’s not a great sign when even the team’s broadcasters are getting in on the mocking of the performance this season.
In a surprising turn, the Mets would actually go on to erase the 3-0 deficit and come away with a 4-3 road win over the Angels. Then again, the Angels are tied with the Houston Astros for MLB’s second-worst record at 12-21, only a half-game better than the Mets (11-21). But the Mets will happily take wins however they can get them right now to try to turn this ugly season around.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.