Carlos Mendoza shares recognizable NY Mets rallying cry with 17 games to go

Fifty-two years ago, Tug McGraw gave the Mets their rallying cry with three little words: Ya Gotta Believe. It was part defiance, part faith, and all grit — the perfect message for a franchise that has always had to claw its way forward. That battle cry resurfaced tonight, not from the bullpen of ’73, but in a dugout tunnel where the 2025 Mets found themselves desperate for a spark.

This team has stumbled through the past month, searching for something to hold onto with 17 games left. And in that tunnel, manager Carlos Mendoza delivered a challenge to Sean Manaea: he told him to fight. The words struck Manaea, but the sentiment should echo far beyond one pitcher. The Mets don’t just need innings or runs right now. They need belief, and they need to fight.

Carlos Mendoza tried the familiar "Ya Gotta Believe" on his Mets players

After missing the first half of the season due to injury, Sean Manaea returned to the Mets rotation in mid-July, but the results have been rough. In 45 innings since his return, he has posted a 5.60 ERA, allowing 47 hits, nine walks, and eight home runs. In six of his last seven starts, he has allowed four runs or more, and he’s failed to make it past five innings in four of them. This is not the same pitcher who carried the club last season, and the Mets have felt it.

That reality made Mendoza’s tunnel challenge even more important. With the Mets down 4-0, the manager pulled Manaea aside and told him to fight, showing he still believes in him. The message clearly landed. Manaea later admitted, “Mendy believes in me. Why can’t I believe in myself?” His primal scream after the fifth inning wasn’t just release — it was the culmination of months of holding on too tightly. “I’ve been holding on to things so tightly; it felt good to have clean innings. A culmination of that,” he said.

The timing couldn’t be any more urgent. Since August 1, the Mets have sputtered to a 14-22 record, including Tuesday’s 9-3 drubbing at the hands of the Phillies, and they’re clinging to a razor-thin lead for the final card spot. Offense has been scarce, scoring more than three runs in only one of their last six games — a narrow 5-4 win over the Reds. Every hit, every rally, every moment counts, and the clubhouse is begging for a spark. Mendoza’s tunnel challenge to Manaea might just be the jolt this team needs to flip the switch.

Tug McGraw’s rallying cry has been a part of this team since 1973, and if the Mets are going to lean into any slogan this year, Ya Gotta Believe may be the one. With 17 games to go, this team needs to fight and believe it can get the job done. Maybe Manaea’s scream from the mound is exactly the moment that wakes this team up and sets the tone down the stretch.