Meet the Mets
The Mets fell to the Cubs 4-2 to drop their tenth straight. Mark Vientos got Mets on the board early with a towering solo homer off Jameson Taillon in the second, but the lead was short lived, as Freddy Peralta yielded a monster shot of his own to Ian Happ in the bottom of the inning. The score stayed knotted at one run apiece until the sixth when Peralta issued two consecutive two-out walks and then Brooks Raley came in to face Moisés Ballesteros. The Cubs pinch hit Carson Kelly for Ballesteros and Kelly hit a three-run
homer on the first pitch he saw from Raley and that ended up being the difference in the game.
Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post
Jorge Polanco was placed on the injured list prior to yesterday’s game with a right wrist contusion. Catcher Hayden Senger was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to replace Polanco on the active roster.
Though Kodai Senga will remain in the rotation for now, according to Carlos Mendoza, Tobias Myers will start today in the struggling David Peterson’s place.
Jay Jaffe of Fangraphs takes a look at elements that stand out about the Mets’ collective slump and tries to explain exactly what is going on with the offense.
A particularly worrying thing about this horrible start to the 2026 season is that it portends bad things for future seasons as well.
Around the National League East
The Braves bested the Phillies 3-1 behind a dominant performance from Chris Sale. Atlanta improves to an NL East best 14-7, while the Phillies fall to 8-12.
More bad news for the Phillies: J.T. Realmuto was removed from the game yesterday due to lower back tightness.
Better news for the Phillies: Zack Wheeler will make one more rehab start on Sunday and then rejoin the Phillies’ rotation next weekend in Atlanta.
The Phillies made some roster moves yesterday, placing closer Jhoan Duran on the injured list with an oblique strain. Righty Seth Johnson was recalled to replace Duran on the roster. The Phillies also optioned Otto Kemp to Triple-A and called up Felix Reyes, who homered in his first career at-bat to plate the Phillies’ only run in yesterday’s contest.
Given Taijuan Walker’s struggles in Philadelphia and the Braves’ hit rate with marginal players, Battery Power wonders what would happen if the Phillies decided to part ways with Walker and the Braves picked him up to bolster their injury-riddled pitching staff.
The Nationals fell to the Giants 7-6 in twelve innings yesterday in DC. The Giants bullpen bent but did not break in extras and Matt Chapman provided the go-ahead RBI knock for San Francisco.
Nationals outfielder James Wood tweaked his offseason routine in the weight room and it is yielding results in this early season.
The Nationals optioned reliever Paxton Schultz to Triple-A Rochester yesterday.
The Marlins lost as well, defeated 5-2 at the hands of the Brewers in Miami. Brice Turang drove in three of the Brewers’ five runs and Brandon Woodruff earned the victory for seven strong innings of work.
One positive for the Marlins is that Kyle Stowers, who had been sidelined with a hamstring strain to start the season, will be activated from the injured list and make his season debut today.
Around Major League Baseball
Former Met José Buttó had surgery on Friday to repair an axillary artery in his upper right arm that had been causing him arm fatigue. He will need approximately 5-6 months of rehab before returning to pitch for the Giants.
The Dodgers lost to the Rockies 4-3 yesterday, but Shohei Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 50 games, tying him for the third-longest such streak in franchise history.
Every team—yes, even the Mets—has at least one early-season development they can hang their hat on. MLB.com’s beat writers run through them for each team. For the Mets, it’s the continued dominance of Nolan McLean.
The Diamondbacks signed infielder Andrew Velazquez to a minor league deal. They also activated Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who is back from a long rehab from a torn ACL, from the injured list yesterday. Luken Baker was designated for assignment to make room for Gurriel on the roster.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
On a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series, Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane tried to stay optimistic in the face of the Mets’ worst losing streak in two decades.
This Date in Mets History
On this date in 2005, the Mets hit a whopping seven home runs against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. If the 2005 Mets can do that, maybe today is the day the 2026 Mets can break out of their slump. Please?
