The exact date when fans should worry about these 5 slumping NY Mets players

New York Mets fans have had a rough go of it recently. The team choked away an easily achievable playoff berth last year before watching stars longtime like Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz leave the team over the winter. Now, the team is off to an ice cold start with a 7-12 record that puts them dead last in the NL East. Any team with that sort of record is going to have players who are struggling unexpected, and that's all the more true for an on-paper contender like the Mets. Here's a look at five of the Mets' slumping hitters, including the exact date fans should be worried about them.

June 1: Francisco Lindor

The Mets' shortstop is off to a slow start this season by anyone's standards, much less his own. Lindor is hitting just .184 with one home run and two steals through his first 19 games this year. His 71 wRC+ indicates he's been 29% worse than league average at the plate this year. There's no sugarcoating the fact that this isn't acceptable production from the team's superstar and franchise face.

Even with those awful numbers, however, Mets fans shouldn't panic. Lindor is approaching slam-dunk future Hall of Famer territory in his career for a reason. He's earned a very long leash, and that's all the more true because the expected numbers say he's been the victim of some bad luck so far this year. His .220 BABIP is the lowest it has ever been, and his xwOBA of .331 is right in line with the .333 figure he posted back in 2022. That year, he finished the season with 26 homers, a 124 wRC+, and 6.4 fWAR. Lindor will figure things out in due time, and it's hard to argue that he of all people is the problem with this team right now.

May 11: Bo Bichette

While Bichette has drawn the immediate ire of fans in New York so far, his track record is also one that indicates he's deserving of a bit of a longer leash. That's especially true given the strides he's made defensively at third base since his shaky start to the year, with +1 Outs Above Average at the position. With that being said, Mets fans shouldn't wait to worry about their marquee free agent signing from this past winter as long as they should with Lindor. Bichette is a well-regarded player for a reason, but it can't be ignored that he's just one season removed from a 2024 campaign where he was barely replacement level when healthy.

Bichette struggled with injuries all season in 2024, of course, but it's not exactly encouraging that his numbers look more or less identical to that year so far. His wRC+, wOBA, xwOBA, batting average, and walk rate are all about the same this year as they were in 2024. His slugging percentage is actually worse. With nine games against the rebuilding Rockies and Nationals between now and the Mets' day off on May 11, that should be plenty of time for Bichette to turn things around ahead of an important stretch of 16 games in 16 days that includes big series against the Tigers and Yankees. If he hasn't turned things around by then, it'll be time to sound the alarms.

May 1: Marcus Semien

Unlike Lindor and Bichette, reasons for concern about Semien extend all the way back to last season. Semien was a member of the Rangers in 2025, and the once-steady veteran struggled to the point of producing his worst season by wRC+ since his 21-game rookie campaign in 2013. His work last year was dragged down by a brutal start to the year as well, but he began showing signs of life by the end of April with a few big games. From April 28 until the start of the All-Star break last year, Semien actually hit .274 with ten homers and a 125 wRC+.

If Semien can heat up in a similar way this year and avoid getting hurt in the second half, it's not hard to imagine him putting this tough start behind him and turning in a respectable season for the Mets. Of course, the first big hurdle between him in that goal will be actually starting to heat up. If he can't get a big series or two in the books before the end of April to set him up for success in May and beyond, it'll be time to start worrying about what Semien can really offer the team.

Today: Brett Baty

While the team's veterans have lengthy track records that suggest they'll even out over time, no such comfort exists amid Brett Baty's disastrous start to the 2026 season. The former top prospect seemed to enjoy a breakout season with the Mets last year, but since being displaced by Bichette at third base he's looked like a shell of his former self.

It's only been 16 games, but Baty has a .197 on-base percentage. He's striking out nearly a third of the time and hasn't drawn a single walk all season. He hasn't recorded a hit in five games. There's virtually nothing in Baty's expected numbers that suggest he's been the victim of poor fortune, and a career 85 wRC+ raises real concerns that the 26-year-old might simply be a below average hitter at the big league level. Baty's still on the younger side, and it's not too hard to imagine him settling down and turning things around if given time. Even so, fans have every right to be worried about him at this point.

Opening Day: Carson Benge

No one on this list has performed well to this point, so Benge's paltry 39 wRC+ through his first 16 games isn't even the worst figure among this group of hitters. No one should dismiss a highly-regarded 23-year-old top prospect after this small of a sample size, either. Benge's future is still a bright one, and it's easy to imagine him being a key part of a the Mets' success as soon as later this season. Even in spite of all those things, however, Mets fans should've been worried the moment Benge was placed on the Opening Day roster.

Coming off a season as disappointing as 2025, there's simply no excuse for president of baseball operations David Stearns to put all their eggs in the basket of a 23-year-old who hadn't played even 25 games at Triple-A. Players like Austin Hays and Mike Yastrzemski were available in free agency, and the Mets passed on making that sort of addition. Mike Tauchman nearly saved the Mets from themselves during Spring Training, but meniscus surgery sidelined him before he could contribute to the Mets this year. As a result, Benge made the roster to open the season, and fans have been right to be worried ever since.

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