The New York Mets (10-21) travel across the continent to face the Los Angeles Angels (12-20) for the start of (another) western swing. At this very moment, the Mets are having one of the three worst starts to a season in franchise history, being even more inept at baseball than the famously inept 1962 Mets, the owners (until very recently) of the worst record in baseball history. The big difference between 1962 and 2026, vibes wise, is that the ‘62 Mets weren’t expected to do much as an expansion club, and had a ‘lovable losers’ vibe that people accepted and embraced. The 2026 Mets are not that; this team was supposed to be a playoff contender. This fanbase was told not to worry as cornerstone players were sent elsewhere or spurned by lack of a offer. This team was supposed to be the first true vision of a still new front office.
Well, that’s not what we got. What we have is a collection of players that look less like a baseball team and more like a quartet of toddlers standing on each other’s shoulders trying to pass off as a baseball player. Whatever can be going wrong seems to be.
Before I go any father, I want to acknowledge that things feel pretty terrible right now, and so that makes even the slightest issue seem magnified to epic proportions. For instance, the same crowd that was laughing at the signing of Carl Edwards Jr. in the offseason was lamenting his being designated for assignment yesterday. If the key to this season’s success was Carl Edwards Jr., then we’ve all been guilty of atrocious miscalculations.
But there are real issues at play here for this team. While Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes have been quite good and Freddy Peralta more or less pitching to his career norms, the other two spots in the rotation have been atrocious. With Kodai Senga on the Injured List and David Peterson having a truly dreadful start in his first start in weeks, the Mets need to figure out the band end of their rotation. Help is on the way in the form of Christian Scott, who will start the first game of the series, but his first outing of the season saw him walk five batters in one and a third innings. Scott is better than that, and has been quite good in Triple-A this season, so perhaps he will stabilize one of those open spots.
But then there’s the bullpen. Aside from Brooks Raely, Huascar Brazobán, and Tobias Myers, everyone has been a mess. Sean Manaea and Craig Kimbrel are shells of their former selves, and both Luke Weaver and Devin Williams have looked shaky at best since coming over from the Yankees. Austin Warren has been very good in limited time, and hopefully he can stick with the club this time.
But the biggest issue remains the offense. It’s nice that MJ Melendez had a big day on Thursday, but that can’t be the strategy going forward. Players like Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez need to be consistently driving the ball, and that simply hasn’t happened yet. Brett Baty and/or Mark Vientos need to start producing on either side of the ball. Without Lindor, without Robert, and without Polanco, the lineup is thin already, but when everyone not named Soto is struggling, it is decimated.
The only good news for the Mets this weekend is that the Angels are a bad ball club. Losers of six straight and ten of their last 11, the Angels continue to be an even more extreme ‘little brother’ team to the Dodgers than the Mets are to the Yankees or White Sox to the Cubs. The Mets are also missing José Soriano, their best pitcher, and so that is a minor blessing as well.
For the Mets fans, this is also an opportunity to watch Mike Trout, undeniably one of the best players of his generation, and one whose talents have been wasted on a less than spotlighted team.
Friday, May 1: Christian Scott vs. Walbert Ureña, 9:38pm on PIX11
Scott (2026): 1.1 IP, 1 K, 5 BB, 0 HR, 6.75 ERA, 15.13 FIP, 169 ERA-
Scott’s first 2026 Mets start was ugly: he faced ten batters and walked five of them. But there are reasons to see that as an isolated incident, the primary one being that it was his first start after Tommy John surgery on a big league mound. But in Triple-A, his strikeouts are there and his walk rate is nice and low. Without the first start nerves, far away from home, perhaps Scott will be able to settle in more tonight.
Ureña (2026): 11.1 IP, 13 K, 10 BB, 1 HR, 4.76 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 111 ERA-
It is rare that you see a pitcher give up six unearned runs, let alone in one inning, but that is exactly what Ureña did against the Astros in late March. Since then, he’s started two games and given up six earned runs total across the two, including a three and two-thirds innings start against the Royals where he walked five and gave up six hits.
Saturday, May 2: Nolan McLean vs Reid Detmers, 9:38pm on SNY
McLean (2026): 35.1 IP, 45 K, 10 BB, 2 HR, 2.55 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 64 ERA-
Things are progressing nicely for McLean, even if the results have been a little more of a mixed bag than the Mets would like. Part of that is lack of run support; aside from the one start they won, the Mets have been outscored 21-9, and only nine of those runs were earned against McLean. But he’s doing the things he’s supposed to be doing as a young starter, and he hasn’t shown any regression or real issues just yet.
Detmers (2026): 33.2 IP, 36 K, 9 BB, 3 HR, 4.26 ERA, 3.22 FIP, 100 ERA-
Detmers had two great starts against the Mariners on April 3 where he tossed six and two-thirds scoreless innings and against Yankees on April 14 where he went seven innings, striking out nine and giving up just one run. Aside from that, it’s been a struggle for Detmers, who has given up at least three earned runs in every other start.
Sunday, May 3: Clay Holmes vs Jack Kochanowicz, 4:07pm on SNY
Holmes (2026): 36.0 IP, 25 K, 11 BB, 3 HR, 1.75 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 44 ERA-
Raise your hand if you thought Clay Holmes would be the most effective Mets’ starter and bWAR leader through April? If any of you have your hands up, you’re liars. But Holmes has been excellent so far this season, even if he’s never quite the most exciting or dominant pitcher to watch work.
Kochanowicz (2026): 35.0 IP, 24 K, 18 BB, 1 HR, 3.09 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 72 ERA-
The second best starter on the club, Jack Kochanowicz is walking too many folks but otherwise looking good for the Halos. After a rough first start, he’s only allowed more than two earned runs once, and has been consistently working into the sixth and seventh innings.
