Six games above .500. With just a few weeks left in the season, that’s where the Mets stand.
Not long ago, this same club was flying high, sitting more than 20 games above the mark. Unfortunately, what once looked like a surefire playoff run has slipped into something much more precarious. Now, the orange and blue hold just a two-game lead in the Wild Card race with 16 games remaining.
The offense, as it has for much of the season, has been wildly streaky. More troubling, though, has been the starting pitching. Outside of a few bright spots, the Mets’ rotation has struggled to provide length.
That trend appeared again on Wednesday evening in Philadelphia, where Clay Holmes took the loss. The 32-year-old right-hander never quite looked comfortable, and the Phillies pounced early. Holmes surrendered two hits, two hit batters, and a walk in the first inning alone, helping Philadelphia jump out to a quick 2-0 advantage.
Holmes settled in through the next three frames, keeping the damage contained while working around two more walks and a pair of hits.
However, by the fifth inning, the wheels began to fall off. A leadoff single followed by a Brandon Marsh RBI double spelled the end of Holmes’ night after just 75 pitches. Marsh would later score, pushing Holmes’ final line to 4+ innings, four earned runs, six hits, three walks, and five strikeouts.
Holmes’ season ERA sits at a respectable 3.75, but his inability to pitch deep into games has become harder to ignore. For a Mets team desperately needing stability from its starters, that reality is more than concerning.
“These games mean a lot, so you can’t really afford to have those mistakes there,” Holmes said after the loss.
The Mets now find themselves staring down the final stretch of the season with little margin for error.
For a team that looked like a serious contender just a couple of months ago, the next two weeks will determine whether this slide becomes a collapse.
