The New York Mets’ midsummer swoon continued on Thursday night, losing to the lowly Washington Nationals, 9-3. It is just the latest setback for the Mets, who have suddenly gone from National League East contenders to wild-card hopefuls.
They are now only seven games over .500 at 67-60. That is a far cry from where they were just over a month ago. New York has dropped 16 of their last 21 games and is now just a half-game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the final wild card spot.
Following the game, Mets superstar Juan Soto was asked his thoughts on the team’s playoff chances.
“100% since day one, we believe in each other and believe we can make it to the playoffs”
Juan Soto was asked if he still feels like the Mets are a playoff team: pic.twitter.com/metDUReUDn
https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1958672351605801096
“100% since day one, we believe in each other and believe we can make it to the playoffs,” Soto said bluntly.
That is a pretty stock answer, and was to be expected. He certainly was not going to say they didn’t believe in themselves. But if the Mets continue playing like they have the last month, it would be one of the bigger collapses in franchise history.
New York entered the 2025 season with World Series aspirations, particularly after poaching Soto from the New York Yankees. Midway through the season, they looked like maybe the best team in baseball. Since that time, injuries and poor pitching have plagued them.
But even the future Hall of Famer has not lived up to expectation this season.
Following a career in the Bronx last year, Soto is hitting just .247 and is on pace for the most strikeouts of his career. He leads the team in home runs (31) and runs scored (90), but considering what the Mets paid him, is not producing at the heights needed to compete at the highest level.
New York heads to Atlanta for a three-game set against the Braves, starting Friday night.
