Mets not worried about offensive struggles but must have ‘a sense of urgency’ moving forward

THE Mets were on a roll heading into the three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. They had just won two straight games against the Colorado Rockies, including a 9-1 victory on Thursday, and had gone 4-3 in the first seven games of their tough 10-game road trip.

New York was shut out on Friday night and shut out again on Saturday, managing just four hits in a 4-0 defeat. The team has not scored in 19 consecutive innings and has been shut out in consecutive games for the first time during the 2024 season. Despite the Mets’ recent offensive struggles, manager Carlos Mendoza He said it’s not a concern.

“No, not at all,” Mendoza said. “You have to give them credit. They have a good pitching staff and we knew that. And then tomorrow, we’re going to have to find a way to beat another good arm. The guys will be ready and we’ll try to save the series tomorrow.”

The Mets got a tough draw against the Mariners rotation, facing Bryce Miller on Friday, Logan Gilberto on Saturday, and will face Luis Castillo on Sunday. Mendoza acknowledged that the team faces strong pitching, but he believes in his hitters to turn it around late in the series.

“It’s the big leagues, man,” Mendoza said. “We have good hitters, we have good hitters. The last two nights, today, tonight, yesterday, they were in their games. We didn’t show much. But like I said, we need to be ready tomorrow for another good arm.”

He added: “It’s baseball, you’re going to go through some stretches where it’s going to be tough. Like I said, you’ve got to give them credit. We’ve got good hitters. But tomorrow we’ve got to find a way.”

Since June 1, the Mets have gone 37-23 to completely turn their season around. However, the team is now 4-5 this month during its long journey. Mendoza reiterated that he is not worried and said the team’s struggles are due to a combination of things.

“Probably a combination, whether it’s not making shots when we need to, not scoring enough runs or making plays,” Mendoza said. “We will continue to fight. This is part of the schedule. We have to continue to fight and stay positive. Come back tomorrow and win a baseball game.”

“We have to keep going. There are very good players there and it happens, so let’s not worry.”

Just like Mendoza, Brandon Nimmo credited the Mariners pitching staff’s performance in the first two games of the series, saying “these guys do it a lot and they’re really good pitchers.” Nimmo went on to talk about his own issues at the plate since the All-Star break, calling his performance “terrible” as he is hitting just .158 with three RBI over the last 20 games.

“Terrible. There’s no doubt I’ve been in really bad shape since the All-Star break,” Nimmo said. “I expect more from myself and I’m working on it every day, but it’s not good enough. I’m one of the leaders of this team, I must overcome, I must do better, and I won’t. I will try to do everything in my power to improve and finish strong.

After Saturday’s loss, the Mets are now 0.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final Wild Card spot with 45 games left to play in the regular season. Nimmo made it clear that the team is not panicked by the recent cold spell, but rather has a sense of urgency to turn things around.

“Yes, of course, but you can’t panic,” said Nimmo. “There has to be a difference between urgency and panic. If you panic, you better drop your boots and go home right now. If you have a sense of urgency and understand that every game is very important, what this group does, they’re not throwing away any games. We recognize that we’re trying to turn this around sooner rather than later, so I think we’ll end up in a good place.

“I can’t panic in this situation, I just have to keep playing baseball, try to get better and try to work on what I can every day.”