Mets' Upcoming Stretch Will Make or Break the Season

The Mets' upcoming stretch features two series against N.L. playoff teams. This will dramatically impact how the rest of the season goes.

Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images

September 4, 2025

The New York Mets‘ upcoming stretch will be a crucial signal for how the rest of the season may go.

Starting Friday, the Mets play a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds, followed by a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. New York currently holds the third wild card spot, four games up on the San Francisco Giants and five games up on the Reds. The Mets have already claimed the series tiebreaker over the Giants.

If the Mets sweep the Reds, they claim the series tiebreaker. If the Reds take two of three or sweep the Mets, Cincinnati claims the tiebreaker and makes a close wild-card race even closer.

The Mets currently sit six games back of the Phillies. The Mets claimed the tiebreaker and closed the gap to as close as four after sweeping Philadelphia out of Citi Field last week. If the Mets win at least three games in Citizens Bank Park, then they’d make the NL East race very interesting.

For the Mets to play well during the next seven games and the rest of the season, it comes down to three things that I’ll discuss in the next three sections.

Offense continues to roll

The Mets’ offense is on fire. They set franchise records in August for runs and home runs in a month. They scored the most runs in MLB in August, and opened September with a 10-run game and a 12-run game.

Juan Soto is looking like the superstar the Mets are paying $765 million for. Mark Vientos has recaptured his 2024 form that hit 27 homers in the regular season and five in the postseason. Pete Alonso has had a great season after a down 2024. Francisco Lindor has bounced back after struggling when he broke his toe in June. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil have been steady, solid presences all year.

The Mets’ biggest strength is their offense, and they need to continue mashing down the stretch run.

Deeper starts

When the Mets jumped out to a 45-24 start, they rode their starting pitching. Kodai Senga was fooling batters with his forkball. Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill were surprisingly effective. Clay Holmes adjusted well to being a starting pitcher. David Peterson was an All-Star. With Sean Manaea on the mend, it seemed like the rotation would be a strength over the summer.

But then it all crashed down.

Senga, Megill, and Canning all got hurt in June. Senga’s been ineffective since he returned, and the latter two have yet to take a major league mound again. Manaea has struggled since returning, and the wear and tear of throwing 100-plus innings has gotten to Holmes. As the Mets hung around .500 the past few months, their starters have gone shorter and shorter into games.

New York has gotten a boost from its rookies, though. Number three prospect Nolan McLean was promoted in mid-August and has looked dominant, pitching to a 1.37 ERA across four starts. Number four prospect Jonah Tong made his debut against the Marlins, pitching 5 1/3 innings and surrendering just one earned run in a blowout win. The Mets are promoting number five prospect Brandon Sproat to make his MLB debut Sunday as they continue to attempt to steady the rotation for the next few weeks.

The Mets’ upcoming stretch will hinge on their ability to get length out of their starting pitchers, particularly the veterans.

Better bullpen

When the Mets acquired Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Helsley at the trade deadline, they thought they were forming a relief corps that could lead them through October. New York already had an elite closer in Edwin Diaz and a solid setup man in Reed Garrett. However, they needed more depth. Diaz has remained his dominant self, and Rogers and Soto have pitched well, but the rest of the bullpen has struggled mightily.

Garrett is on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, and Helsley has been nothing short of a disaster so far. In 11 innings as a Met, he’s given up 14 earned runs, walked eight hitters, and blown four saves. Helsley has largely been relegated to mop-up, low-leverage situations. Ryne Stanek has had command issues all season.

Great bullpens have carried teams deep into the postseason recently. The Mets’ upcoming stretch and beyond will depend on how well the rest of the bullpen can step up and be an effective bridge to Diaz.

Putting it all together

The Mets’ season can be defined by inconsistency. When one thing has worked, something else has struggled. The offense is dominant, there’s potential in the starting rotation, and there’s serious talent in the bullpen. However, the Mets just haven’t been able to have all of them in sync this year. If they can get all the aspects in harmony, the Mets will be dangerous down the stretch and maybe come October.