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The New York Mets’ 2025 season will go down as one of the franchise’s most notorious second-half collapses. On August 1, they were firmly in the second Wild Card spot and only a half-game out of the division. The Mets struggled badly, especially in September, and were eliminated from a playoff spot on the last day of the season. Needless to say, many of their players down the line, with these four in particular showing the biggest red flags. However, not all of them had as worrying second halves as their surface numbers may suggest.
Jeff McNeil’s September was a red flag
Jeff McNeil returned to the club in late April and looked well on his way to a bounce-back season. His first 378 plate appearances saw him bat .256/.348/.451 with a .343 wOBA, and 124 wRC+. He was hitting for more power than ever before, with a dozen home runs and a .194 isolated slugging percentage. The utility man struck out at a microscopic 10.8% rate, while drawing walks at the same pace.
But September proved to be an extremely rough month for McNeil. It was only 84 plate appearances, but he hit .187/.274/.240 with a .239 wOBA, and 53 wRC+. While he kept up a solid 9.5% walk rate, his strikeout rate climbed to 16.7%. The power he showed earlier this season had dissipated, with a sub-.100 ISO at .093, and no home runs.
However, what is worrying is how McNeil got exposed at the plate. McNeil saw seven pitches at least 5% of the time this season. His whiff rate on sliders at 26.8% was the highest among all of the pitches he saw. From his first game of the season through the end of August, he saw sliders 21.2% of the time. But in September, he saw a slider 25.3% of the time. Meanwhile, he was most effective against sinkers, with only a 12.4% whiff rate and .383 xwOBA. Up through August, he saw a sinker 14.3% of the time, but in September, that fell to only 11.9%.
McNeil’s overall whiff rate in September climbed to 22.6%, compared to just 12.7% in 2025 prior to that. McNeil changed his approach this year to take advantage of his pull-side power. But it seems like opposing pitchers figured him out in September. That means the ball is back in McNeil’s court, and it’s up to him to adjust.