It did not begin with fireworks, just a quiet sense that something was not clicking. As the Mets lined up against the Braves at Truist Park, thoughts hovered like thick summer air. The team had a scope to reset and a series to remind the league of their firepower. Instead, it unraveled quickly. Juan Soto looked adrift. Francisco Lindor’s bat stayed cold, and the once first-place favorites were swept by a Braves squad still trying to identify their footing.
This was not just a rough patch—it was a full-blown collapse. The Mets delivered just one run over the final 22 innings of the series. The team’s stars vanished when the Mets needed them most, leaving fans shaken and forcing WFAN insiders to give a wake-up call. As one host at WFAN bluntly put it, “Nobody’s competing in the batter’s box and it really looks bad… especially when you play a team like, the Atlanta Braves, who played like, crap up until this series.”
The sweep did not just sting—it redefined the low point of the Mets. Juan Soto was lost at the plate and on the base paths. Lindor’s battles were so glaring that WFAN doubled down: “Francisco Lindor looks lost. Pete Alonso looks lost. Juan Soto looks lost—both on the base paths and in the batter’s box,” and data also supports him. Francisco Lindor went 0-for-the-series and Soto spent the eighth inning of the finale attracting the “Over-rated!” chants from the Truist Park crowd. Combine that with Clay Holmes’ six-walk clunker and a team held together by duct tape, and it is no wonder Carlos Mendoza pointed fingers squarely at the pitching staff. “It starts right there on the mound,” he said. However, we need to be real—this was a team-wide collapse, not just a pitching blip.
What makes this issue more frustrating is the timing. The team had just clawed into first place, only to cough it up while the Braves—five games under .500—used the Mets as a springboard back to life. Six straight losses and now a path towards the Phillies to face Zack Wheeler? That is not a bounce-back script. That is a horror sequel. With this series, the Mets lose momentum, confidence, and could be a little bit of their identity. “Listen — no matter if we were in Atlanta or we’re heading to Philadelphia now, those are good teams and you need to play good baseball in order to beat them,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We didn’t play good enough baseball all around this time through”, he added.
Do, what is next? Well, when an offense forgets how to hit and the rotation is patched with duct tape, the answer is not simple. However, for Soto and Lindor, this is not just a slump. It is a turning point, and a wake-up call has been made. The question is: will the stars answer? However, the chaos is not limited to the lineup—things could be more unstable on the field.
Injury-riddled rotation leaves Mets relying on patchwork and prayer
As the offense spirals, the rotation of the Mets has become a triage unit. With Taylor Megill, Kodai Senga, and now Max Kranick all sidelined, the team is scrambling for answers. Enter Justin Hagenman, a bullpen star turned emergency outcomes, and possibly Frankie Montas, who has been shelled in Triple-A rehab outings. Hagenman pitched 3 ⅓ innings of one-run ball in the lone appearance this season and could be thrown into the fire Friday against the Phillies. It is far from ideal, however, when the options are thin, flexibility becomes survival.
Still, if the star is a gamble, Montas looks like a coin toss in the dark. Signed to a $34 million deal after a lost year post-shoulder surgery, Montas’ six rehab starts have been stark: 30 hits, 12.05 ERA with eight home runs in 18 ⅔ innings. Carlos Mendoza did not sugarcoat it and said, “He got hit around, you know? But once you put him in a big league game… they flip the switch.” That is a vital bet for a rotation teetering on collapse.
Add it all up, and the team depth chart now reads more like a to-do list than a weapon. With the Phillies looming and Wheeler waiting, the force on call-ups is immense, and unless Montas miraculously identifies his command under the bright lights, the rotation will not just be patchy—it will be a full-blown liability in a division race tightening by the day.
The Mets are staring down a vital stretch, with the team’s stars slumping, rotation unraveling, and grip on the division loosening by the day. Whether it is Soto and Lindor waking up at the plate or Montas flipping the coin, something has got to give—fast.
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