Was it the bats, the arms, or both? For the 2026 New York Mets, the answer is simple enough: both sides get blamed.
The numbers tell the story without much room for debate. The Mets scored 699 runs and allowed 731.
Compared with 2025, that was 67 fewer runs scored and just 16 more runs surrendered, which makes the offensive slide stand out as the bigger dip. Still, there was no escaping the fact that neither unit held up well enough to keep the team in the hunt.
By the raw league rankings, the Mets landed 20th in runs scored and 17th in runs allowed. That’s not a disastrous spread, but it’s also not the profile of a team ready to make noise. It’s the kind of middle-ground misery that leaves a club nowhere near real contention.
There was a split story within the season itself. In the first half, the Mets ranked 23rd in runs scored and 21st in runs allowed.
After the break, those marks improved to 10th and 12th, respectively. The biggest leap came from the offense, and Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Bo Bichette all being together mattered.
Carson Benge also finished strong, and others chipped in along the way.
Even with that improvement, the Mets never reached elite territory on either side. There were stretches when the bullpen looked sharp, with different pitchers stepping up early in the year and others doing the job after the deadline. The lineup had its own bursts too, but it also went through the kind of slumps that can swallow an entire month.
The second-half push was better, but not nearly enough to change the final picture. After going 40-57 in the first half, the Mets finished 34-31 following the All-Star Break. That was good for a tie for 10th in MLB during that span, but it still fell well short of what they needed.
So what has to change? Maybe it’s as straightforward as adding one ace and one big right-handed bat in the middle of the order, plus a bullpen piece or two. That would at least make the roster look more balanced going into next year.
Of course, some of the biggest decisions aren’t fully in the Mets’ control. Bichette’s choice to opt in or out will shape what comes next, and replacing him in some capacity would be a must. Another middle-of-the-order bat would be needed either way.
The pitching staff remains the big point of debate, especially when it comes to whether the answer should be Tarik Skubal or a different route built around Clay Holmes and Michael King. Is one elite arm the better play, or would two really good ones make more sense?
The lineup could end up looking fairly similar next season, with the hope that Lindor and Soto simply deliver healthier years. Lindor, though, has to be better. A .225 batting average and .733 OPS doesn’t get the job done.
In the end, the Mets’ run prevention was close to what it had been in 2025, but the scoring took a real hit. That’s why the offense deserves the harsher finger-pointing.
The pitching didn’t come through cleanly, and Freddy Peralta was one of the few who badly underperformed expectations, but a lot of the issues on that side traced back to too much faith in Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and David Peterson. Bichette’s long wait to find himself again mattered, too, as did the long absences from key hitters.
The first clear move toward fixing it came when the Mets moved on from hitting coach Jeff Albert. They’re signaling that the offense needs a different voice, and with several young hitters expected to reach the majors in the next year or two, that change feels like an important first step.
In Other News...
Mets Still Have One Massive Roster Question To Solve
Looking ahead to 2027, the Mets roster picture already has a clear priority at the top of the list: finding a starter who can anchor the rotation at the highest level. The market could eventually offer some intriguing names, and Tarik Skubal stands out as the kind of impact arm who could reshape a staff if he ever gets there. From the Mets perspective, this is the sort of move that can alter both the floor and the ceiling of a club trying to build around contention.
The bigger challenge is that the rotation question is only part of the checklist. The Mets also have holes that would deepen the roster in important ways, including a right-handed bat for first base, a right-handed fourth outfielder and another high-leverage reliever to shorten games late. There are candidates who fit those jobs, from Alec Bohm and Paul Goldschmidt to Nick Morabito, Tyrone Taylor, Randal Grichuk, Lane Thomas, Ramon Laureano, Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam, but the real issue is how the front office prioritizes all of it when the time comes. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Rotation Overhaul Could Put One Young Arm In Trouble
The Mets have already spent the trade deadline reshaping the roster, and the next order of business is clear: the starting rotation needs help. David Stearns has said as much, making it plain that the club expects to add arms before long and keep pushing for more stability behind the games already on the calendar.
For Zac Thornton, that creates a tougher road into spring and beyond. The young right-hander is in the mix now, but any meaningful rotation upgrade could tighten the competition around him and leave his place far from secure. A move like that would not necessarily be a setback so much as part of the Mets larger plan to keep developing him while sorting out a staff that still needs more depth and certainty. [Read more 🡒]
Mets May Already Have A Quiet Devin Williams Backup Plan
The late-season conversation around the Mets has had a familiar shape: Devin Williams was supposed to be part of the answer at closer, but the results have not matched the role, while Kodai Senga has given the club a different look in the high-leverage mix. With the bullpen picture still unsettled, the Mets have started to examine lower-profile options who might matter more than they did in spring, especially if the ninth inning remains open going into next season.
Nate Lavender is one of those arms worth keeping in the back of the mind. He has shown enough strike-throwing and miss bats to stand out as a potential relief piece, even if he is not in the current closer conversation, and the appeal is obvious for a team that wants more answers in the pen. The velocity is not eye-catching, but the Mets may not need a radar-gun headline if the rest of the profile keeps playing the same way. [Read more 🡒]