It’s early. It’s still early in the 2026 Major League Baseball season.
That’s a chant New York Mets fans should be repeating, considering what happened to baseball’s second-most expensive team three-plus weeks into the regular season.
The Mets started the season 7-4 in the first 11 games, taking three of four from the San Francisco Giants. That series win came despite losing Juan Soto to a calf injury on April 3. They then beat the Arizona Diamondbacks to win their fourth game in a row. That was April 7. Since then, the wheels have come off.
And it culminated in a 10-game hitting streak, which was extended by a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani meets Mrs. Met and Mr. Met at Citi Field before the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets on April 9, 2026, in New York City. (Caean Couto/Getty Images)
The New York Mets Are Already Out of Contention
They lost the last two games of the series against the Diamondbacks by a combined score of 14-3. Then they lost to the Athletics at Citi Field, scoring only six runs in three games and being shut out twice. New York then traveled to Los Angeles for a three game series against the Dodgers. That got worse.
The Mets lost 4-0, 2-1, then saw Devin Williams go on an 8-2 run to complete another one. After the day off, they went to Chicago to play the Cubs. They were also outscored 16-6 en route to losing the streak and extending their losing streak to 10 games.
New York even had a brief lead on Saturday, thanks to Mark Vientos’ solo home run to go up 1-0 in the second inning. Sure enough, the Cubs tied it back in the bottom of the second. And then he took the lead when Carson Kelly hit a three-run homer in the sixth.
Keep in mind, this is a team with an estimated $381 million in luxury tax, and an estimated $126 million in tax payments, for a total payment of $507 million. They are now 7-14, have lost 10 games in a row, are in last place in the National League East, have the second-worst streak in the NL at 24, and are tied for last in all-time in Major League Baseball.
It’s early. OK? Well, yes, to an extent, but the Mets’ brutal start has already hurt their chances throughout the season. Per Fangraphs projected odds, the Mets peaked on March 27 with an 89% chance of making postseason baseball. Just three weeks later, that number dropped to 47.5%.
Now the Mets are more likely to miss the playoffs than to make it. They are 6.5 games behind the first place Atlanta Braves already, and 5.5 games out of what would be a wild card spot. That deficit can be fixed, but the hole they put themselves in is growing rapidly.
Ms. Met hugs Zohran Mamdani at Citi Field before the game between the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 9, 2026, in New York City. (Caean Couto/Getty Images)
Almost no one on the team is hitting. Highly anticipated Carson Benge is hitting .150 with a .217 slugging percentage. Big free agent signing Bo Bichette has struggled mightily. Jorge Polanco is hitting .179. Brett Baty has a .197 on-base percentage. Marcus Semien, brought in for Brandon Nimmo, has one home run and a .577 OPS. They are so desperate for offense, they signed Tommy Pham. The Dodgers, as a team, have 138 runs scored and are 38% better than the league average. New York? Entering Saturday, their team wRC+ was 81, 19% worse than the league average.
They have scored 18 runs over a 10 game losing streak, just 1.8 runs per game. It’s bad.
Yes, the Mets can recover and salvage their season, especially since Soto is expected to return in the next 7-10 days. But this is a strong reminder that building a team is not an exact science, even with the biggest salary at or near the top of the league. The Dodgers make it look easy. The Mets make it look tough. Oh, and the funniest part? It’s all Zohran Mamdani’s fault.
