Sports

5 Things That Have Gone Wrong for the Mets During Their 11-Game Losing Streak

By Kyle Koster Sports Illustrated

Updated April 20, 2026 6:11 AM

The Mets entered 2026 with high expectations and an enormous payroll, second to only the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers. There was optimism these deep pockets could lead to the team's first crown since 1986, or at the very least a run to the first National League pennant since 2015. Dollars have translated to victories out on the West Coast as Los Angeles sports the best record in baseball at 15-6. In the Big Apple, things are looking rather brown and moldy. After suffering a weekend sweep in Chicago at the hands of the Cubs, the Mets are now 7-15 on the campaign and riding an 11-game losing streak.

Only the 1951 Giants have been able to rebound from such a prolonged skid to make the playoffs and their stumble also occurred in April when there is plenty of time to right the ship. But trying to become just the second team in MLB to scratch and claw back to the postseason is not a great fate to accept at this early stage. And then there's the question of how they would even advance deep into October should they earn a ticket.

So what has gone wrong to create such a state of play?

Juan Soto remains unavailable

Soto is by far the Mets best offensive weapon and they haven't been able to deploy him as he tries to heal from a right calf strain. The current timeline has him optimistically back in the lineup soon at some point during an upcoming nine-day homestand that begins on Tuesday. He will be a desperately needed balm but also will be expected to do everything and save the day while he tries to get back into form. New York's offense has been anemic as it has the second worst OPS in all of baseball and only the Royals are scoring fewer runs per game.

Clutch hits remain elusive

New York is obviously struggling to even get runners on base but a larger issue is capitalizing on those opportunities. Through 22 contests the Mets are hitting .219 with runners in scoring position and have collected the second fewest amount of RBIs in those situations. Sunday, on a rare day where they got superb pitching, they went 1-for-9 in these clutch moments while mustering only a single run. It's the ninth time during the losing streak where the offense has failed to post more than two runs, which is a recipe for disaster.

Dreadful pitching

Misery loves company and the position players are joined in frustration by the team's staff which entered Sunday's game with a combined 6.25 ERA during the slide. The arms have surrendered seven runs or more in five of the losses. Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean have been excellent with 1.96 and 2.28 ERAs respectively. The other three pitchers in the rotation, not so much. Free agent signing Freddy Peralta is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA while David Peterson is 0-3 with a 5.40 mark. Kodai Senga has been a disaster at 0-3 with a bloated 8.83 ERA.

Proven entities are M.I.A.

It stands to reason that if the team isn't playing well that it's stars are struggling and with the Mets that particular issue is widespread. No one has stepped up to pick up any of the enormous slack left by an absent Soto. Catcher Francisco Alvarez is having a nice year but none of the players with proven track records at the top of New York's lineup are showing any signs of life. Bo Bichette has been a major disappointment and carries a meager .538 OPS. Francisco Lindor isn't much better at .600 and Marcus Semien is only at .606. Mark Vientos (.616) and Jorge Polanco (.532) are also walking back to the dugout emptyhanded far too often.

Bad vibes

The pressure of playing in the most intense media market is always enormous. Throw in a gigantic payroll, mix in a major setback and there's a bad storm brewing. Manager Carlos Mendoza recently got a vote of confidence from the team's leadership and it's lack of execution not strategy that's causing the Mets to lag. Still, the pressure is on from all directions. Owner Steve Cohen was online talking about green shots last week but no fan wants to don rose-colored glasses at this point. The Mets can pretend everything is going to be okay and not publicly freak out but they should be. It's still early but rapidly becoming too late. Some of the poor play can be attributed to players pressing and without signs of turning things around, this is only going to get worse. Buckle up.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 5 Things That Have Gone Wrong for the Mets During Their 11-Game Losing Streak.

This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 6:03 AM.