3 Mets weaknesses which led to them falling back to .500

This was a rough weekend for the New York Mets. Riding high after sweeping the Phillies, the team seemed to have finally figured things out. Upon further review, not so much. After 60 games, the Metropolitans are right back where they began the year, at .500

The Mets didn't get blown out by the Toronto Blue Jays, but after three consecutive losses, that's small consolation. Being on the receiving end of a home sweep never feels good, and Mets fans will be glad when the Blue Jays clear customs on their way back to Canada. Let's look at three reasons the Mets are back to square one.

The bottom of the Mets lineup is a wasteland

There are nine hitters in a baseball lineup. Pete Alonso dominates the headlines every time he launches one into orbit, but baseball is a team game. Other hitters need to perform, and against the Blue Jays, that just didn't happen.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the Mets' hitting woes. Francisco Lindor has been the source of much derision in the midst of his recent slump, but I'd rather look at the rest of the Mets' lineup after Pete Alonso. In this weekend's series, the 5-9 hitters went a combined 7-48. Four of those hits belonged to Starling Marte.

Despite a lack of help for much of the season, Alonso leads the league with 21 home runs. Without him, this lineup would be in complete shambles. Even with his immense power, the team ranks 20th in the majors in runs per game. Having Marte step up after being dropped in the lineup is encouraging, but the team needs more. Brett Baty, Mark Canha, Daniel Vogelbach, and Mark Vientos need to step up their games, because lately, they've been easy outs.

The Mets can't hit with runners in scoring position

There's a lot wrong with the offense. That much is obvious. We close today with a problem that has afflicted the Mets all season: the team can't hit with men in scoring position. At no time this year has that been more apparent than against the Blue Jays.

It seems impossible to believe, but the Mets were 0-19 with runners in scoring position against Toronto. Sunday's four runs came from four solo home runs. Saturday's lone run came on a Daniel Vogelbach double with a man on first. As for Friday? Well, the Mets had no runs on Friday.

Some teams rely on the home run as their main source of offense. The Mets should not be one of them. Despite employing the major league leader in home runs, the team is only ranked 12th in the league in big flies.

Only two teams strike out less than the Mets. For a team that makes a lot of contact, you would expect that going 0-19 with runners in scoring position would be impossible, but here we are.

The Mets rank 26th in the league in BABIP, or batting average on balls in play. This could mean one of two things. Either the Mets have been extremely unlucky when making contact, or the team is making weak contact. Watching the games, sure, the Mets have been robbed on some hard hit balls, and they've been unlucky to hit a line drive right at a fielder more than a few times. More often than not, though, Mets hitters aren't making good contact, resulting in easy outs.

Sixty games are in the books, so we're past the point of "small sample size." This Mets team has issues, but it's not too late to make something of the season. To rise above .500 and shed that badge of mediocrity, the offense needs an overhaul, and the pitching staff needs to stop walking so many batters. Can the Mets figure it out? The Braves are waiting, so we'll find out soon.