Francisco Lindor takes the blame for NY Mets losing 5 in a row, who's truly at fault?

Another loss for the New York Mets on Wednesday turned up the panic dial. Sweeps will happen. Heartbreaking losses like the one suffered on Tuesday will bite everyone. For the 2025 Mets to see it all happen right in a row with another putrid offensive performance on Wednesday feels atypical.

Unofficial team captain Francisco Lindor was asked after the game if there was a common theme. Like the leader he has become, the only coincidence he sees is the team’s leadoff hitter, him, not getting on base.

That’s an easy way to dive in front of the issue when you’ve gone hitless in three straight. However, Lindor hasn’t been completely void of contribution throughout the last five games. He scored once in their 7-5 loss and two more times when they dropped the game 8-4 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Everyone knows by now when you asked Lindor to explain something negative, the blame will fall at his feet. Going hitless in a 9-0 loss and again when the Mets were shutout 5-0 on Wednesday doesn’t require finger pointing at the leadoff hitter. There is a much bigger running theme.

The Mets pitching has been letting the team down the most of all

Yeah, the defense has been suspect. It’s less about making errors and more about decisions they make. The same goes for some of the base running. Those little moments end up blossoming into bigger issues. But if there was a constant theme throughout these five straight losses, it’s the total runs the Mets have given up.

We’ve seen 7, 8, 9, 5, and 5 again. That’s…carry the one…half your age plus 7…34 runs in 5 games. An average of nearly 6 per game in a stretch where the Mets haven’t gone beyond 5 runs seems thematic.

The offense sure hasn’t delivered. Two shutouts in three games won’t cut it. Against a team like the Atlanta Braves, we should expect low-scoring fist fights. There’s always a playoff mentality when these two teams play. Someone forgot to deliver the memo to the Mets.

The one constant throughout this five-game stretch has been the pitching letting them down. Clay Holmes was okay on Friday only for Paul Blackburn to enter and make a complete mess of things. Tylor Megill imploded on Saturday. Griffin Canning showed up on Sunday looking more like the Los Angeles Angels version of himself than what the Mets created. Blackburn again deserved a finger wag for how he pitched on Wednesday.

A lone exception was the performance of David Peterson on Tuesday, but the added rope he got to pitch into the 8th ended up backfiring on the Mets. Reed Garrett continued his trend of not being so sharp either.

Lindor will gladly wear the blame for any issue plaguing the Mets because that’s what captains do. A few more hits in Atlanta from him might have altered the final score, but it’s difficult to say he’d make the Myspace Top 8 of ongoing problems with the club.