It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not with this roster, not with these names, not in this city.
Yet here we are — the New York Mets, armed with high hopes and higher payrolls, are crumbling at the plate.
Fans, once optimistic, now sit in stunned silence as another scoreless inning unfolds. The excitement feels hollow, the cheers forced.
On Friday night, the Mets scratched together five runs over 13 grueling innings, even with the extra-innings advantage.
In theory, starting with a runner on second in the 10th should boost offense — for the Mets, it only underscored the struggle.
Juan Soto’s slump is turning heads — and not in a good way
When the Mets brought in Juan Soto, they weren’t just adding a bat — they were securing a generational talent.
But Soto, a player known for swagger, patience, and power, is hitting just .236 in 2025. Something feels off.
His OPS of .786 barely shadows his career norms, and eight homers by late May is well below his usual pace.
When a star underperforms, fans panic. When the star looks lost, it begins to feel like betrayal — unintentional or not.
Columnist John Harper captured the mood best, calling Soto’s struggles “beyond puzzling,” as he fails to spark any momentum.
The frustration lies in his approach. Soto’s plate discipline, once elite, has eroded into a frustrating blend of passivity and mistimed aggression.
He isn’t chasing wildly, but he’s not punishing mistakes either. He’s present but not impactful — like a lighthouse with no beam.
Francisco Alvarez is showing worrying signs at the plate
As much as Soto’s slump stings, Harper made it clear that Francisco Alvarez might be the bigger concern right now.
Soto is becoming more and more of a focal point as Mets’ offense struggles, and it’s beyond puzzling at this point that he can’t get it going, but would still have to point to Alvarez as biggest concern. No power, still pulling off pitches after he talked about changing approach.
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) May 24, 2025
Alvarez’s outing against the Dodgers — 0-for-5, flailing at pitches out of the zone — was hard to watch.
He didn’t just look bad; he looked shaken. His swings lacked conviction, as if he no longer trusted himself.
Dig into the metrics and the red flags multiply. His chase rate is up to 30.9%, contact rate is down to 64.4%.
He’s whiffing on nearly one in five swings. His strikeout rate hovers near 30%. These are not small blips — they’re crisis signals.
The young catcher entered the league with thunder in his bat, but in 2025, the storm has quieted to a drizzle.
Still, there’s context to consider. Alvarez underwent wrist surgery in spring, played few rehab games, and may still be recalibrating.
Wrist injuries can linger, sapping timing and confidence. Ask any hitter — a healthy swing starts in the hands.
Patience is thin, but the Mets must show it
With the season trudging forward, it’s tempting to ring the alarm — to bench, trade, or reshuffle just to do something.
But Alvarez is more than a name on a lineup card. He’s a franchise cornerstone, a long-term bet that can’t be abandoned prematurely.
Just like a classic car that’s been in the garage too long, Alvarez may just need more time to warm up and find his rhythm.
There’s frustration, yes. But beneath it is hope — the kind that good players eventually reward with a breakthrough.
Soto’s struggles, too, may not last forever. Slumps are inevitable, even for stars. The concern grows when they become the norm.
The Mets don’t need miracles — they need their best players to be their best selves. Right now, that feels far away.
But baseball is long, winding, and often cruel. The same men we question in May could carry us in September.
Popular reading:
Mets’ star discusses worrisome neck injury: ‘I couldn’t pull the trigger on anything’
!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}();