The New York Mets entered Monday having lost seven straight games and 11 of their last 12 games.
The team is clearly not living up to expectations right now, and the Philadelphia Phillies are starting to pull away in the National League East. Carlos Mendoza pointed at the starting rotation as one of the keys to getting back on track.
“We gotta get our starters going,” Mendoza said, per The Athletic’s Will Sammon.
The Mets’ starting rotation playing better will have a positive effect on the entire team. The offense will not have to be perfect and the bullpen will be less taxed. However, the Mets will need their offense to play better at some point as well.
The rotation has dealt with some injuries, but the starters are going to have to start going deeper in games at some point. Against the Milwaukee Brewers, no starter completed five innings. Frankie Montas did not have a traditional start, but pitched three innings behind an opener.
The Mets will play two series against the Atlanta Braves, a series against the Washington Nationals and a series against the Seattle Mariners before they take on the Phillies in a critical series.
The Phillies entered Friday with a 5 1/2-game lead over the Mets, but Mendoza thinks the team does not need to be worried about the standings right now.
“We haven’t played well in quite a bit now,” Mendoza said, per Sammon. “That’s what happens. We can’t be looking at the standings. We gotta start getting the job done. It’s that simple.”
The clock is ticking on the Mets’ season, and they will need to start playing better if they want to make a deep run in October.
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