There are certainly a lot of negatives that can be said about the Mets’ 2026 season. But I’ll start my look back with a positive note: It’s over. And we can move on with our lives.
We all know that last off-season’s work by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to remake the Amazin’s turned out to be less than amazing. So let’s go back to the future, to the start of the 2024 season, Stearns’ first as owner Steve Cohen’s man in charge.
Here’s the long story Short. The lineup for the second game of that season included 28-year-old journeyman Zack Short at third base. (It was a surprise to everyone, including Short, that he made the roster.)
In the top of the first inning on a sunny March 30, Short had his first chance in the field and muffed a slow roller. The batter, William Contreras, wound up scoring, and the Mets wound up losing by one run. Oh, and Pete Alonso (remember him?) slugged his first home run of that year. Short appeared in 10 games, went 1 for 9, and was released before the end of April.
But that stint, short as it was, must have shown Stearns something. Mid-June of 2026, Stearns picked up Short, again, from waivers. By then 31, he played six games, went 1 for 14 and made two errors. But he pitched one inning and retired the Phillies 1,2,3, before being optioned to the minors and later released. It’s just one way of looking at the mess the POBO made.
Admittedly, there were some positives in 2026 — namely two-thirds of the outfield, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing. Both are young, talented and exciting players — at the plate, on the bases and in the field. And the young starting staff, led by Nolan McLean, shows a lot of promise.
I’ll use one word to describe reliever Jefry Yan — the jumpy lefty (Tug McGraw would love this guy): unforgettable. I hope he can learn how to control his pitches. My advice to Yan: Don’t curb your enthusiasm.
When it comes to highlights of the 2026 season, yes, there were a few. For whatever reason (injuries certainly don’t help), Ronny Mauricio hasn’t been able to stick and put together an extended period of good play. But when he hits the ball, you can almost hear it scream: Ouch! Gary, Keith and Ron seem to believe he can become a star if he can stop lunging for pitches out of the strike zone. He showed what he can do with three homers in three straight at-bats in the last couple of games of the season.
Oh yeah, highlights: No. 3 is Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field. I was happy with how the fans at the games treated him and loved the curtain call. No. 2 is Keith Hernandez calling his youth football coach “an idiot” out loud during a broadcast of the Aug. 10 Mets game in Atlanta (they lost 4-0).
The No. 1 highlight of the 2026 season is the Mets emerging from their dugout after losing to the Phillies in the last home game of the season at Citi Field (Sept. 20), looking up at the radio broadcast booth where the great Howie Rose had just wrapped up his final game, and tipping their caps to Howie. How about we put that in the books and turn the page.
