I don’t often struggle to write series previews. In fact, it’s often my favorite article to compile for Amazin’ Avenue. But I’m going to be honest, I’m struggling to even think about where to begin with this one. But here goes…after a truly horrific stretch of baseball, the New York Mets (34-47) welcome the division rival Philadelphia Phillies (45-36). The two teams squared off last weekend, with Philadelphia taking two out of three on their home turf, and the Mets will look to return the favor.
The Mets enter this series on a six-game skid, a losing streak which began against the Phillies and was exacerbated as the Mets endured a truly embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Cubs at Citi Field. The Mets ended up losing all seven games they played against the Cubs this year, including their three games at Wrigley Field in April.
Losing games is one thing, but these games were borderline noncompetitive, and each game had its own embarrassing component. After a Monday night rain out, the series kicked off in earnest on Tuesday with Kodai Senga putting the final nail in his own coffin by getting rocked once again. Senga, whose ERA now sits at 10.08 after seven starts, has found himself relegated to a bullpen role following his putrid season, but given his performance, you can excuse any Mets fan for being skeptical that this move will pay off.
Following their 9-6 loss on Tuesday, the team was swept in a double header on Wednesday. The winners of the day game (besides the Cubs) were the Norwegians, who captured the hearts and minds of New Yorkers everywhere. The losers, of course, were the Mets and Mets fans everywhere, who are subjected to watching this team. The Mets actually led 3-0 thanks to back-to-back homers from Jared Young and Francisco Alvarez, but the Cubs went on to score 10 unanswered runs. In the nightcap, the Mets’ infield made six (6!) errors en route to a 10-5 loss which was as demoralizing as it was deeply embarrassing.
The series concluded with the closest of the four matches, an extra innings loss on Thursday. The Mets were once again plagued by bad defense, which directly resulted in three unearned runs charged to Freddy Peralta’s final line. The first error came on a routine play that Ronny Mauricio, who was called up earlier that day, could not make, which kicked off a three-run inning for the Cubs. As Carlos Mendoza (now former manager of the Mets) said post game, the errors the team has been making, specifically the ones in this game, were extremely routine plays. Despite a two-run homer from Wagaman and another dinger from Young, the Mets fell in extra innings and ended up leaving a season-high 14 runners on base in the sweep-clinching defeat.
Dansby Swanson had a series for the ages against the Mets, driving in 15 home runs and hitting three homers across the four games. In fact, he was held hitless in the fourth game, so all of that offensive production came in the first three games. In the first game of the doubleheader alone, he hit two homers, including a grand slam, and drove in seven runs for Chicago, matching a career high.
On the bright side, Francisco Alvarez has begun to heat up offensively, hitting three homers in the series. He now has eight home runs and a .258/.326/.436 slash line on the season, with a 115 wRC+ and a 0.9 fWAR. Since returning from the IL on June 9, he’s hitting .294/.345/.529 with four homers and a 145 wRC+ in 14 games. At the very least, from the crop of youngsters that includes Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, and Bretty Baty, Alvarez has at least provided you with something to feel good about, and he figures to be the only one from that group to factor into the future.
Any dreams of chasing a Wild Card spot have all but been dashed with this losing streak, as the vibes are literally lower than I can ever remember with this club. At the exact halfway point of the season, the Mets reside at 34-47, meaning that they’re on pace for 68 wins. If these trends continue, they would fail to win 70 games for the first time since the 2003 season, and it’s never a good thing to be compared to the Art Howe years. The Mets are currently 9.5 games back of the final playoff spot in the National League, but only two games ahead of the Rockies for the worst record in the league. They currently are tied for the sixth-worst record in baseball, which is important for MLB Draft Lottery odds, because if they snag a top-six spot of the MLB Draft order, they won’t be dropped ten spots due to the payroll penalty.
While David Stearns said he will evaluate the team’s situation with respect to them being buyers or sellers up until the August 3 deadline, the team has seemingly already made it known to the league that they are open for business with their first big move, which was moving on from long-time pitcher David Peterson. The club sent him across to the visitor’s clubhouse after Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep while acquiring an infield prospect in return. Peterson was a free agent so moving on made sense regardless of the team’s situation, but it does at least show that the club seems to be leaning towards the sellers route. With little left to play for on the field, all eyes will be fixated on the trade deadline as the Mets look to extract some value and build up their farm system to help build towards a (hopefully) better future.
And as we publish this article, the team announced “the departure of Carlos Mendoza”, meaning they will have yet another new manager. Andy Green will take over as the interim skipper for the remainder of the 2026 season. A lot more will be discussed about this in the coming days, you can be sure.
The Phillies are in a completely different spot from the Mets. They come in to this series as winners of seven of their last ten games and hold the top Wild Card spot in the National League, one game clear of the Cubs, who just walloped the Mets this week. After a really sluggish start, they are only four games behind the Braves for first place in the National League East. After firing their manager, Rob Thomson, following a 10-19 start, and inserting Don Mattingly into the interim role, Philadelphia is 35-17. After losing their first game to Washington in their recent four-game set, they won the last three, with each of them coming thanks to a ninth inning rally. In the two middle games, they were down to their final strike before erupting to steal the game from the Nats. Must be nice.
Friday, June 26: Zach Thornton vs. Zack Wheeler, 7:10 PM EDT on WPIX
Thornton (2026): 4.2 IP, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 8.31 ERA, 6.10 FIP, 207 ERA-
Thorton is making his second spot start for the Mets this season in place of the recently-departed David Peterson. In his one outing, he allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking two against the Nationals on May 20, which resulted in a loss. In seven outings in Triple-A so far this season (including six starts), he owns a 4.80 ERA. He has struck out 29 and walked 14 across his 31 innings in Syracuse.
Wheeler (2026): 68.1 IP, 69 K, 18 BB, 8 HR, 2.11 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 50 ERA-
Wheeler’s last start came against the Mets on Sunday Night Baseball, and he picked up his seventh win of the 2026 campaign against just one loss. In that outing, he allowed two earned runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, and he struck out seven while walking three batters. In the month of June so far, he has three wins and has posted a 1.82 ERA and a 3.55 FIP in 24 2/3 innings. Opposing batters have managed just a .165 batting average and .559 OPS against him during this stretch, and he’ll look to finish the month off strong against his old club.
Saturday, June 27: Christian Scott vs. Alan Rangel, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Scott (2026): 40.2 IP, 47 K, 19 BB, 4 HR, 3.10 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 77 ERA-
This will be Scott’s first start in 15 days after he landed on the injured list with a right hip impingement. Perhaps the injury could help explain Scott’s trouble with the long ball in his last start, which came against the Cardinals on June 11 in a game the Mets eventually won. After surrendering just one home run across his first eight starts, he gave up three in the first two innings against the Cardinals, but was able to hold them at bay after that rough start. He ended up going 4 2/3 innings, allowing a season-high seven hits while striking out six and walking one. He did keep his streak of 18 starts allowing four runs or fewer to begin his major league career, which remains a Mets record. Scott has been the Mets’ best starter this year since making his return to the majors, leading the club with a 3.10 ERA.
Rangel (2026): 8.0 IP, 9 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 2.25 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 53 ERA-
Rangel is a journeyman pitcher who made his major league debut with 11 innings across five outings for the Phillies last season. He signed as an international free agent in 2014 and bounced around from the Braves to the Angels to Philadelphia, where he finally got a chance at major league action. Saturday will mark his first major league start after making seven relief appearances over the past two season with the Phillies. He enters play having allowed two earned runs over eight innings pitched. His last time out, he pitched five innings and limited the Nationals to one run on five hits. He threw 72 pitches in that one (a career high in the majors), so he is probably in line to pitch between 70 and 80 pitches in this start.
Sunday, June 28: TBD vs. Jesús Luzardo, 1:40 PM EDT on SNY
TBD
The Mets could turn to Tobias Myers or a bullpen game on Sunday, unless they want to promote someone from the minors.
Luzardo (2026): 92.1 IP, 110 K, 30 BB, 9 HR, 4.39 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 104 ERA-
Luzardo has had a bit of an up-and-down year for Philadelphia, and June is a perfect encapsulation of his struggles. In two of his outings this month, he’s allowed five earned runs. In the other two, he’s allowed one earned run and two earned runs. In the latter, he matched his season high by going seven innings. Despite that, the club has won each of his last six starts and eight of his last ten. In his most recent outing, he settled for a no decision but did strike out a season-high 13 batters while allowing five earned runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings against the Nationals. He is currently seventh among NL starting pitchers in innings pitched, and can be relied upon to give the team length, even when he is struggling.
