The Mets' return to mediocrity destroys their playoff hopes

There was an ugly stretch of the Mets season that lasted until the end of May.

Next came the meteoric rise in six weeks that fueled postseason dreams.

Now that meteoric success has given way to mediocrity – or something worse – and threatens to bury the Mets before they begin a road trip next week against the Padres and Diamondbacks, both of whom are in the running for a National League wild-card spot.

Before the Mets dropped to 13-13 since the All-Star break with an ugly 7-6 loss to the A's on Thursday at Citi Field, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns remained optimistic about the team's chances of making the postseason.

The root of his optimism?

“I think we're a good team,” Stearns said. “I think we've proven that. There have been periods this season where we've played like the best team in baseball, and I think we're capable of doing that again.”

You have to start soon.

The Mets have played three series against AL West teams in the last two weeks and lost all of them. They finished 2-7 against the Angels, Mariners and A's. Somewhere in between, the Mets managed to win a series in Colorado.

The offense was the problem in their last road game. Then the Mets returned home and started scoring runs, only to be let down by their pitchers. Sound familiar? The same pattern played out in May, when the Mets fell to 11 games under .500.

JD Martinez, one of the Mets players who has struggled to perform since the All-Star break, said the team has adopted a “who cares” mentality in reviving its season. That theme, he said, came up again this week in a discussion among teammates.

“It was one of those things [before]”Let's just have fun,” Martinez said. “It's one of those things that unfolds like an avalanche and suddenly we get to this point, we make a few trades, we're in it and now suddenly the pressure is a little more.”

“One of the things we've talked about is the 'who cares?' mentality. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose, what does it matter? That's what got us here and we just have to get through it until the end of the season.”

Jose Quintana was emblematic of the team's midseason rise, a pitcher who was in form for several weeks and helped anchor the rotation, and he has been equally emblematic of the team's struggles of late.

The left-hander walked two batters to load the bases in the fourth inning before JJ Bleday slurred a first-pitch slur into the right-field seats. Grand slam. Quintana had squandered most of the five-run lead he had built, and the A's completed the comeback against Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett.

Overall, the Mets have walked 11 batters and hit one. That's the strength of the Mets as a pitching team this season, with 479 walks, an NL high.

“We have to dig deep and see what's going on here,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “When we were struggling earlier this year, that was one of the main problems – the free passes, too many uncompetitive pitches.”

The Mets scored 19 runs in three games, an encouraging sign after nearly conceding a full weekend series in Seattle, but can they make it a consistent success?

One of the few consistent performers was Mark Vientos, who hit two home runs on Thursday and has a .908 OPS over his last 44 games. He was in the second batting spot for the first time this season since Brandon Nimmo was out with a stomach virus.

The illness could be the perfect restart for Nimmo, as he has only allowed 1 of 21 goals in his last six games and has been in a general slump since the All-Star break.

Before the Mets began their turnaround this season, Mendoza changed the lineup and put Francisco Lindor, who was in his slump, into first batter while Nimmo batted second or third. Now, one wonders if Nimmo could benefit from a move down so Vientos could stay at second.

Mendoza said this is something that is being considered.

Stearns declined to speculate on how many wins the Mets need to make the playoffs. For now, he's more interested in stringing together wins and staying in the race.

“I think by mid-September you're a little more aware of what's going on around you,” Stearns said.

The Mets can only hope that any of this will matter by mid-September.