Mets have just one way to turn disaster season around, according to ESPN analyst originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The New York Mets have been a mess this season. They lost 12 games in a row, and thanks tot he Philadelphia Phillies own 10-game losing streak and struggles overall, they aren't alone at the bottom of MLB with a 10-19 record.
Both teams are playing some bad baseball this season, but for the Mets, they have a different way to fix their disastrous season. While the Phillies need their pitching to turn things around, the Mets' focus is on their offense.
As ESPN's Jorge Castillo highlighted, the Mets' only way to turn things around is for the offense to play better. Juan Soto can't be the only hitter to play well, as Bo Bichette, Francisco Lindor, and the rest of the offense need to play better.
"Can they fix it? Sure," Castillo writes. "... The Mets can't rely solely on Soto to propel the offense. Team have pitched around him since he has returned from the injured list, daring someone else to beat them. The success rate has been too high for the Mets to win consistently."
Even if the Mets are getting solid production out of Soto, the rest of the lineup needs to be a whole lot better this season than it currently is.
Bichette is hitting .237 and needs to be a lot better. Carson Benge is trending in the right direction lately after a disastrous start, and if Luis Robert Jr. can get healthy, he could be a key middle-of-the-order bat for this offense.
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But as things currently stand, the Mets are without Lindor and Jorge Polanco, while Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and almost every other hitter (besides MJ Melendez, Jared Young, and Francisco Alvarez) all have an OPS below .700.
The Mets' offense needs to be a whole lot better this season, and it starts with the expensive veterans like Marcus Semien and Bichette.
Castillo believes there's a chance for the Mets to turn things around still this season, but the offense needs to be significantly better than it is right now.
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