Jorge CastilloSep 28, 2025, 08:40 PM ETCloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.Follow on X
Passan: This was a ‘disasterpiece’ of a season for the Mets (1:01)Jeff Passan calls the Mets the most disappointing team after their stunning second-half collapse. (1:01)
June 29: Blown out and swept by the last-place Pirates
July 18: Costly loss to Cincinnati to open second half
Aug 3: Montas struggles, and Mets lose first place for good
Aug. 10: Walk-off loss to Milwaukee to complete sweep
Sept. 8: One-run loss opens four-game sweep in Philadelphia
Sept. 12: DeGrom shuts down Mets in return to Citi Field
Sept. 21: Mets drop another series to Washington, fall from postseason position
MIAMI — The New York Mets’ stupefying 2025 season, a 162-game ride that launched with World Series aspirations, ended with a thud at 2:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, the final day of the regular season.
Just three weeks ago, on Sept. 8, the Mets owned a four-game lead over the Reds with 19 games remaining. They had a 92.2% chance to reach the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Even this weekend, when their slide had been going for three months, optimism still existed. Day after day, disappointment after disappointment, the Mets repeated the same line: There was too much talent in that clubhouse not to be able to reverse course and play in October.
Those clubs’ playoff hopes died months ago; FanGraphs calculated the Mets’ chances at 33.4% entering Sunday. They were extinguished when Francisco Lindor hit into a double play to end the game. It was the third time since 2007 that the Mets had their playoff hopes dashed with a loss to the Marlins on the final day of the regular season.
Record: 45-24 Division: First place (5.5 games up) Reds’ record: 35-34 (10 games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 96.2%
Kodai Senga was one of the best pitchers in the majors for the season’s first six weeks, with a 1.47 ERA through 13 starts. Then he exited his start June 12 with a hamstring injury he suffered covering first base, and that ace-level pitcher never surfaced again.
Though disappointing for the Mets, which boasted the best rotation ERA in baseball to date, the Grade 1 diagnosis was considered encouraging, and Senga returned a month later with three games remaining before the All-Star break. The Mets thought they were getting their ace back. Instead, Senga became a problem.
The right-hander posted a 5.90 ERA in 39⅔ innings across nine outings upon his reinstatement from the injured list. The sudden decline was baffling. Both Senga and the Mets insisted he was healthy. Eventually, with the Mets unable to absorb poor outings in a playoff race, Senga agreed to an option to Triple-A Syracuse to work on his mechanics. He didn’t pitch for the Mets again.
The Mets said: “Healthwise, he’s 100 percent fine. There’s no issues with him. He’s not favoring anything. We just haven’t been able to help him, whether it’s mechanicals or execution, whatever the case might be here. But we haven’t gotten there yet. So this is where we’re at. But physically he’s fine.” — manager Carlos Mendoza, Sept. 19
Record: 45-25 Division: First place (4.5 games up) Reds’ record: 35-35 (10 games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 94.9%
In the moment, and for the ensuing several weeks, the Mets’ 7-5 loss to the Rays on June 13 did not warrant any special attention. The Mets’ bullpen imploded in a six-run sixth inning, but the team was still 20 games over .500 with the top record in the National League — despite a slow start from Juan Soto. It was an annoying loss in a long season. Nothing seemed askew.
But the result proved to be the beginning of the Mets’ downward spiral. The Rays beat the Mets the next two days and left New York with a three-game sweep, and that bullpen collapse proved an early signal of looming trouble. The weekend marked the start of a seven-game losing streak for the Mets, the first of three skids of at least seven losses this season. With that first swoon, their lead in the NL East evaporated.
Record: 48-37 Division: Second place (1.5 games back) Reds’ record: 44-40 (3.5 games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 78.1%
The Pirates hosted the Mets in late June already 18 games under .500, nearly two months removed from Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton’s firing. Very little was going right outside of Paul Skenes’ performances every fifth day. And yet, Pittsburgh pounded the Mets in a three-game weekend sweep.
The Pirates, one of the worst offenses in baseball to that point, scored at least nine runs in each game and outscored the hosts 30-4. They held New York to the four runs without Skenes throwing a pitch. Frustration boiled to the point that the Mets held a players-only meeting after Saturday’s 9-2 loss. No matter. The Pirates routed them 12-1 on Sunday to punctuate the series and hand the Mets their 13th loss in 16 games.
The Mets said: “We’re going to stick together and continue to play as hard as we can, to come out of it and hopefully, once we are out of it, we don’t go back to something like this.” — shortstop Francisco Lindor (MLB.com)
Record: 55-43 Division: Second place (0.5 games back) Reds’ record: 51-47 (four games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 83.5%
Sean Manaea was effective in his first start after missing 3½ months with oblique and elbow injuries before coming out of the bullpen in his season debut. But his leash was short as he eased into a starter’s workload, prompting Mendoza to pull him after 69 pitches over four innings with a 2-1 lead. The aftermath essentially cost the team a playoff spot.
Alex Carrillo, a 28-year-old right-hander who had made his major league debut earlier in the month, squandered the lead by surrendering two runs in the fifth frame. He was eventually charged with five runs on three hits over 1⅓ innings and never pitched for the Mets again. Journeyman left-hander Brandon Waddell, summoned to relieve Carrillo, gave up two runs over the final 3⅔ innings as the Mets fell behind six runs in an eventual 8-4 defeat.
The Mets lost the following day 5-2 before winning the series finale Sunday. But losing the first two games sealed the season series for the Reds, giving them the critical tiebreaker between the clubs. Flip either loss and the Mets advance to the postseason with a better record than Cincinnati.
Record: 63-49 Division: Second place (0.5 games back) Reds’ record: 58-54 (five games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 93.6%
Over the winter, the Mets signed Frankie Montas to a two-year, $34 million contract with a player option for 2026 after Luis Severino, coming off a rebound season in Queens, declined a similar offer. The pivot yielded disappointing results. Montas strained a lat during spring training and didn’t make his season debut until June 24. That day he tossed five scoreless innings. Otherwise, it was a struggle for the veteran right-hander.
With fans clamoring for the organization to call up one of their three prized pitching prospects, Montas walked off the mound Aug. 3 with a 6.68 ERA in seven starts after surrendering seven runs over four innings to the San Francisco Giants. That was enough for a demotion to the bullpen, where Montas made two multi-inning outings over the next 11 days before an MRI revealed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Montas made his final appearance, a two-inning effort, Aug. 15 and is expected to miss the entire 2027 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early September. With that, the Frankie Montas era in Queens is likely over after 38⅔ innings pitched.
The Mets said: “It’s awful. It’s hard for him. He was pretty devastated yesterday when he found out, and rightfully so. It’s been a hard year for him.” — Mendoza
Record: 63-55 Division: Second place (5.5 games back) Reds’ record: 62-57 (1.5 games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 77.5%
The Mets traveled to Milwaukee on a four-game losing streak with eight losses over their past nine games. The Brewers, on the other hand, were on a six-game winning streak. The momentum continued on both sides as New York was swept over the weekend in a series bookended by one-run losses.
For Helsley, the outing was part of a hellish beginning to his Mets tenure. The hard-throwing right-hander, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals, surrendered 20 runs (16 earned) in 13 innings over his first 16 appearances as a Met. Helsley was one of our four players the Mets added at the trade deadline when the team held a half-game lead atop the NL East.
The moves were initially lauded, but only right-hander Trevor Rogers fulfilled expectations. In addition to Helsley’s struggles, left-hander Gregory Soto posted a 4.70 ERA in 24 appearances and center fielder Cedric Mullins recorded a .569 OPS in 41 games. The performances, coupled with the Mets deciding not to acquire a starting pitcher, rendered the haul of impending free agents a disappointment.
Record: 76-68 Division: Second place (11 games back) Reds’ record: 72-72 (Four games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 92.2%
The Mets arrived in Philadelphia for a four-game series starting Sept. 8 trailing the Phillies by seven games in the NL East. The Mets gave the ball to Nolan McLean for his fifth career start in the opener, and the rookie continued his success in the majors, holding the Phillies to one run over 5⅓ innings. But that was all Philadelphia needed in a deflating 1-0 loss that set the tone for the series.
The Phillies outscored New York 26-10 over the next three days, completing a thorough sweep to effectively end the division race with a season-high 11-game lead with just 15 games remaining.
Record: 76-72 Division: Second place (12 games back) Reds’ record: 74-73 (1.5 games back) Mets’ playoff projection: 72.8%
The matchup didn’t last long. Tong was bounced in the first inning after giving up six runs and securing just two outs. On the other side, deGrom, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner in Queens, continued his rebound All-Star season after two injury-plagued campaigns to begin his career in Texas by holding the Mets to three runs over seven innings despite registering just two strikeouts.