New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. David Frerker-Imagn Images

Francisco Lindor reveals 'most important thing' amid Mets' ongoing crisis

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Aug 15, 2025 8:20 AM ET

The New York Mets fell to 2-13 over their past 15 games when they blew yet another lead en route to suffering a 4-3 loss to the lowly Atlanta Braves (53-68) on Thursday night.

Following the defeat, Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor offered somewhat of an emotional plea to his teammates regarding the club's pursuit of a postseason berth.

"There are a lot of guys doing good things, and then there are a couple of guys that are not," Lindor said, as shared by Phillip Martinez of SNY. "Sticking together is the most important thing. It’s tough. You have to be put in a situation where no matter what happens, we stick together, fight for each other, play for each other. It’s a test we’re going through. Big adversity. Everyone here has a sense of urgency to win and try to win."

That's all well and good, but Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post is among those who have pointed out that there is plenty of information that shows the Mets may simply be a bad team this summer. Per the StatMuse website, the Mets lost 33 of their last 52 games to fall to 64-57 leading up to Friday's series opener against the Seattle Mariners (67-55).

As Anthony DiComo of the MLB website mentioned, the Amazins have developed quite a reputation for losing leads since July wrapped up:

Over their last six games, the Mets have blown leads of:

-Six runs
-Five runs
-Four runs
-Two runs
-One run (five times)
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 15, 2025

On Thursday, the Braves scored twice in the top of the eighth inning off of trade-deadline acquisition Ryan Helsley to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. Per ESPN, Helsley has allowed seven runs (three earned) across his first six appearances with the Mets since they landed him from the St. Louis Cardinals last month.

Following Thursday's MLB action, the Mets trailed the first-place Philadelphia Phillies (69-52) by five games in the National League East standings. Meanwhile, the 64-58 Cincinnati Reds were within half a game of catching the Mets in the battle for the final NL wild-card playoff spot at that time.

"Obviously, we’re not playing well, but too much talent. We’re going through a really tough time now," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza added on Thursday night. "There’s a lot of good players there. We just have to get through this. We can’t look at the standings. We know where we’re at, not playing well, but right in the thick of things. We have to find a way."

If the Mets don't soon find a way to turn things around, Mendoza could be out of a job by the start of October.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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