3 reasons the 2023 Mets season felt different from last season

2. The New York Mets could not win the high-scoring games.

Winning ballclubs find ways to win a lot of different styles of games, and having an ineffective pitching staff that concedes 123 more runs than they did the year prior doesn't help matters at all.

The Mets did at times, showcase what they were capable of as an offense this year, as they had four players with 24 or more home runs and scored more than 700 runs, but the pitching staff wasted some good team performances from their lineup. They went 7-16 games in which each team scored six or more runs (compared to 8-4 last year), which was the most in the majors this season and it was tied for the most in franchise history.

Some of the most deflating losses of the season, including the gut-punching losses to the Braves and the Phillies in June where the bullpen couldn't hold on to leads, were two examples of these.

In spite of some of the regressions in the Mets offense this year, there were many times where the New York media could have showered praises for them, but instead, were overshadowed by a poorly-constructed pitching staff that couldn't hold onto leads.

David Stearns will need to retool and restore some sanity to the Mets' pitching staff, as they'll need to upgrade their middle reliever group if they are to get back to contention in 2024.