The Mets are not playing well. Now that we’re done talking about the obvious, let’s discuss why.

There are many reasons why the Mets have been losing game after game, each in a more heartbreaking fashion than the last. Underperformance, lack of run support for Jacob deGrom starts, poor bullpen management, poor roster management, Jose Reyes, injuries, and back luck have all played a part in this skid. There is one thing, though, that any Major League team should be proficient at and have complete control over: Fundamentals.

I have been playing baseball at a high level my entire life, and fundamentals have been a staple of most every practice. A practice is incomplete without first-and-third, bunt defense, or cut-off drills. Watching the New York Mets play baseball recently gives me reason to think that they are not working on these undeniably important scenarios.

Let’s take a look at the 7th inning of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Cubs, the inning during with the two deciding runs would score. At the onset of the inning, Steven Matz had been brilliant through six innings, keeping the score at 0-0. Back-to-back hits from Javier Baez and Willson Contreras put runners on first and third with nobody out.

First-and-third situations are incredibly important to work on, especially with a quick runner on third base like Baez. As the defending team, you need to be prepared for every contingency, for example, what happens if the runner on first breaks for second? At the same time, the offensive team has different plays, such as having the runner on first base getting picked off on purpose, taking a big lead to draw a throw. This is exactly what happened with one out in the 7th.

Matz, a lefty, had his back to the runner on third base and as Kyle Schwarber was at the plate, the Mets were shifting towards right field. Baez was able to take a huge lead off third base, completely unchecked by the lack of a third baseman in the vicinity and not given a second thought from Matz. The runner on first Contreras drew a throw from Matz, and the second the ball left his hand, Baez broke for home and slid in safely for the Cubs’ first run of the game.

AP/Frank Franklin II

There were two big and obvious ways to prevent this steal of home. The Mets could have positioned their third baseman closer to the bag, or Matz could have done so much as look at Baez, even in his peripherals, to keep him close to the bag. This play went wrong in a big way, and any team that works on first-and-third situations enough would have been prepared for this situation.

Later that inning, with runners on first and third again with one out, Ben Zobrist hit a weak pop-up to shallow right field. Off the bat, it seemed obvious that it would not be deep enough to bring in the run, especially with a catcher on third base. Second baseman Luis Guillorme went out onto the grass and Jay Bruce was charging in.

Though, as the ball was coming back down to Earth, Bruce just stopped running and did not call of Guillorme, who was forced to make the catch. The run scored from third, giving the Cubs the 2-0 lead they would eventually win with. This is a situation when it is 100% the right fielder’s ball, as if the second baseman were to catch it with his momentum going towards the outfield, the runner on third has a much higher chance of scoring, something that came to fruition.

These two instances of bad fundamentals were just the most recent in a long string of poor on-field decisions by the Mets. At least three times in the last week there has been a lack of communication between Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo in the outfield, almost leading to a collision on each occasion. If there is one thing Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron taught us, it’s that you’ve got to call for the ball loudly and with conviction.

The Mets are 27-30 after getting swept by the Cubs at home. They have tons of problems to deal with, but bad fundamentals is one thing they actually do have control over. You can fix it with repetitive drills, preparing for each contingency, for example what to do with a lefty pitcher on the mound and a fast runner on third base with a shift on.

There have been missed cut-off men, mis-played bunts, botched relays… The list goes on. Baseball teams at any level, let alone in the Major Leagues, can not win ballgames without a good handle on fundamentals. It has become obvious of late that the Mets’ grasp on fundamentals is lacking and it’s taking a toll on their win-loss record.