Here we are, halfway through the season. A time to reflect on all that has happened in the first half of the season. This season – once again – has not started the way we wanted, or expected, it to.

If you don’t want to think back on the past few months, don’t worry, we here at MMO will do it for you. Here’s what we think are the biggest first half surprises and letdowns for the Mets.

David Melendi

I am surprised that there have been so many letdowns. I had Peralta winning the Cy Young in a preseason MMO Roundtable. Oops. I thought this team would win 90-plus and compete for the division, even challenge the Dodgers.

Christian De Block

It’s quite difficult to find a positive surprise with the team 17 games under .500 at the All-Star break. After watching this team play small ball against Paul Skenes on Opening Day, I could have never expected this. Not a chance. Missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season and the third time since 2023 is beyond disappointing. Significant pressure is on David Stearns and Steve Cohen to fix this mess in the offseason. Time is ticking, with the fanbase growing impatient.

Matthew Tutrone

Letdowns: The injuries to Lindor and Soto early on. The 12-game losing streak. Freddy Peralta. David Peterson. Just nearly all of the starting pitching. The overall lack of any good vibe or the comfort of familiar faces. The growing impatience for Cohen and Stearns to find the right path forward and get into consistent playoff appearance mode.

Surprises: Benge and Ewing coming up and impressing pretty consistently. Luke Weaver, and most of the rest of the bullpen. Mendoza actually getting fired. The level of checked-out I’ve been since early May.

Patrick Glynn

The biggest surprise is how good I feel about the Mets outfield for the next 5-10 years. Soto, Ewing and Benge could be really special.

The biggest letdown is just about everything else. Most of Stearns’ offseason acquisitions have resulted in the worst-case scenario. Freddy Peralta is probably the most disappointing, given Bo Bichette has actually been pretty good since the start of June. Peralta was handed the ace role on Opening Day, and his poor performance that day turned out to be a sign of things to come. Sadly, there are still two and a half months left of baseball, and hopefully a couple of other signs of hope can emerge over that time.

Mojo Hill

If you’re looking for positives, I would say it’s pleasantly surprising how good AJ Ewing has immediately been, along with how well Carson Benge and Bo Bichette have bounced back from brutal starts. The Mets’ bullpen has also been solid, despite Devin Williams having a so-so year.

The negatives mainly lie with the lineup as a whole and the starting pitching. A combination of injuries and underperformance has plagued both areas. Juan Soto is still elite, but the Mets’ lineup with the hitters’ corresponding OPS’s has looked bleak most days. Freddy Peralta, Kodai Senga and David Peterson are all having or had disastrous runs. Even Nolan McLean struggled for a while. Clay Holmes was great, but of course he got hurt.

This team has some talent, but it’s just one of those years where much more has gone wrong than right.

Johnluke Chaparro

Positives: Clearly, it’s been Carson Benge, Juan Soto and A.J. Ewing. They’ve been such a breath of fresh air. Soto will be Juan Soto, so no shock there. Benge and Ewing detail the future and have given us a glimpse of what David Stearns is attempting to do with the lineup and farm system.

Negative: the pitching rotation, especially Freddy Peralta. I have no idea what happened to this guy, or what changed between the plane right between here and Milwaukee, but he’s been incredibly underwhelming and disappointing. He was supposed to be a guaranteed anchor in the rotation that was supposed to fix one of the glaring issues that plagued this team from last season, but ultimately turned out to just add to the problem.

Mathias Altman-Kurosaki

There have been many letdowns, but none bigger than Freddy Peralta. He was brought to Flushing to be an ace, and he’s been fighting inconsistencies all season.

As for the biggest surprise, it’s how well all the young players have performed this year. Everyone expects Juan Soto to be a superstar, but Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have settled in really nicely. Nolan McLean has bounced back from a rough patch, Christian Scott has been very solid, and Zach Thornton has turned in a pair of strong starts. While 2026 might be a lost cause, the youth movement on the roster has given fans some reasons to be excited.