Inside The Mets

Carlos Mendoza acknowledges Mets' struggles with runners in scoring position

Capitalizing with runners in scoring position has been the Mets' Achilles' heel all season.
May 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza visits the field after New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) was hit by a pitch during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
May 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza visits the field after New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) was hit by a pitch during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images | Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

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The New York Mets may be 34-22 as June approaches, but some of their flaws have certainly been on display this season.

Of course, the most obvious flaw is the Mets' inability to execute with runners in scoring position, which has already cost them several games this season. Wednesday's series finale against the Chicago White Sox was yet another example. Despite immediately digging into a 5-0 hole and ultimately falling 9-4, New York still had many opportunities to cut into that deficit throughout the game as they went just 2-for-12 with RISP.

After Wednesday's game against Chicago, manager Carlos Mendoza was blunt when asked about the Amazins' ongoing issues with runners in scoring position.

"We've got to get better with runners in scoring- we are all aware of it," Mendoza said. "I thought [Tuesday] we took some better at-bats, [Wednesday] not so much. We've got a lot of good hitters there, I'm pretty confident at the end of the year, the numbers are going to be where they need to be, especially with runners in scoring position. But right now, we have to continue to find a way."

The numbers don't lie about how bad the Mets have been this season with men on base. They're batting .210 as a team with RISP (28th in the majors), and their .312 on-base percentage with RISP ranks 24th in all of baseball. New York also has a .234 BABIP (batting average on balls in play), which is last in the major leagues.

Mark Vientos, who accounted for three of the Mets' four runs on Wednesday, does not think his team's lack of execution with runners in scoring position will continue all season.

"If this is us struggling, and we're winning games, imagine when we're not," Vientos told reporters. "I don't think the whole season is going to be like this... you're always waiting for that hot streak and I know it's coming for us."

Read More: What changed for Mark Vientos in 2025?

Even though the Mets have continued to find ways to win games this year, are currently 12 games over .500, and just two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, their lack of production with RISP is not a sustainable way to earn wins over the course of a season.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan