Oof.
That’s all I could think of looking at last night’s box score. The Mets pitching was able to keep the game close (1-0) most of the game but the offense struggled to get anything going. Ultimately the Athletics beat the Mets 4-0 to take the series opener.
We have seen the Mets get into collectively slumps like this before. We’ve seen the 2026 Mets get into a s lump like this in the first week of the season! We have also seen the 2026 Mets find their bats, especially during last weekend’s four game winning streak. Can they bring that magic home?
Kodai Senga has allowed four runs on nine hits and five walks this season while striking out 16 batters in 11 2/3 innings. Obviously a small-sample size, but his 12.3 K/9 is quite a bit higher than his career 10.2 rate. One of Senga’s best starts last season was against the Athletics, holding them scoreless over seven innings. The Athletics have the following career numbers agaisnt him:
- Lawrence Butler 2-3, 2B
- Shea Langeliers 1-5, HR, K
- Max Muncy 1-2, K
- Tyler Soderstrom 0-2, BB
- Jacob Wilson 0-3
In two starts this season Jacob Lopez has allowed six runs from nine hits and 10 walks over 8 1/3 innings. He has allowed exactly three runs and five walks in each start this season. Last season he pitched 92 2/3 innings with a 4.08 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 1.273 WHIP and a 106 ERA+. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Brett Baty 0-1, K
- Bo Bichette 2-7, 2 2B, K
- Francisco Lindor 0-1
- Jorge Polanco 1-1, BB
- Marcus Semien 2-4, 2 BB, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Mets Bats. The Mets bats have not scored a run in 17 innings. According to DiComo, they have gone 38 consecutive innings without scoring more than one run. It’s really hard to win ballgames if you aren’t scoring. The longer streak of no multi-run innings confirms what we are feeling – the Mets are squandering chances with RISP. Jacob Lopez has struggled with his location so far this season, don’t give him free strikes, work the count, get on base and get a big inning.
- Carson Benge. Benge’s numbers are odd this season. He has a .125 BA, .222 OBP and 31 wRC+. His xBA is an ice cold .168. But his BABIP is .153, he has a Hard-hit% in the 40’s (64th percentile) and he’s hitting the launch angle sweet-spot 40% of the time (81st percentile). He had a scorching groundout yesterday with a .620 xBA. On Wednesday he had a lineout with an xBA of .660. It feels like we are on the precipice of things falling into place for Benge.
- Power Outage. The Mets and the Athletics enter play today tied for 22nd in the league with 10 home runs on the season. This is a massive departure for both teams from last year. The Mets had 224 home runs, good for 5th in the league and the Athletics had 219, or 7th in the league. The Mets are without their best hitter, lost one of their best power hitters in free agency and Lindor hasn’t found his stride yet. On the Athletics, Shea Langeliers is tied for the league lead with five home runs, the rest of the team has the other five.
Let’s Go Mets!
