Manager Carlos Mendoza is still unable to pull the New York Mets from their early-season slump. Their historic losing streak has reached 11 games as the Chicago Cubs capped off the series sweep on Sunday with a 2-1 victory. While Francisco Lindor has come to his manager’s defense, Mendoza is still in the crosshairs of critics.

During the Cubs Postgame Live broadcast by Marquee Sports Network, Cole Wright indicated that Mendoza’s job might be on the line as the losses stack up for the Mets. “I think Carlos Mendoza may want to update that LinkedIn page,” remarked Wright, as per Awful Announcing. “Former major-league manager, not great at managing late-game situations. That’s what the update may look like.”

The Mets hold the worst record (7-15) in the NL at the moment. After their latest loss to the Cubs in extra innings, Mendoza is on the hot seat as his late-game decisions continued to backfire.

At the bottom of the tenth with the game tied at 1-1 with two outs, the Cubs had Pete Crow-Armstrong at third and Nico Hoerner coming to bat. Despite Hoerner being one of the best hitters in the league with runners in scoring position, Mendoza surprisingly chose not to walk the hitter with first base open. Hoerner wasted no time in hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly off the Mets’ reliever Craig Kimbrel as PCA scored to register the win.

The leadoff hitter boasted an impressive 7.6% strikeout rate last season, per FanGraphs. This season, his slash line reads .325/.402/.518.

Mendoza attempted to explain his decision, stating that he just aimed to get Hoerner out. The manager reportedly stated, “In that situation, especially with Hoerner, you put him at first base, they’re going to take second base there. You know there’s a contact situation there, but then they got some of their best hitters coming up after that, too. No, I was just going right after him.”

However, Hoerner would have been followed by Michael Busch and Alex Bregman, both having a slow start this season. Busch has hit only .164 so far, while Bregman has fared much better with a .233 average. By walking Hoerner, the Mets could have loaded the bases for a potential double play with Bregman at the plate.

After a late-season failure that kept the Mets from the 2025 playoffs, Mendoza’s strategies are falling through this year as well.

On Saturday, Mendoza chose to pull starter Freddy Peralta from a 1-1 game in the sixth. But the bullpen became ineffective as Brooks Raley gave up a 3-run homer on his first pitch. The Mets never recovered, losing the game 4-2.

It almost worked out for Mendoza on Sunday with Tobias Myers starting at the mound instead of David Peterson. But Devin Williams ultimately blew it in the ninth. However, Francisco Lindor still has his manager’s back.

Francisco Lindor comes to Mendoza’s defense

Francisco Lindor has faced a lot of backlash for his quiet at-bats as well as his error-prone defense this season. Lindor’s mental mistakes took center stage multiple times in the new season, as he forgot the number of outs in a double play or abandoned base in favor of chasing the wrong ball.

Amid his personal struggles, Lindor has come to the Mets’ manager’s defense following their 2-1 loss on Sunday.

According to Foul Territory via SNYtv, Lindor said, “He has done a fantastic job. This is not on him. He has made sure everybody here is prepared, every coach here is prepared, and we have the information. It comes down on us. Mendoza’s our guy; he is our leader.”

The Mets’ offense has been struggling with scoring an average of 1.7 runs per game during their losing streak. Despite having Lindor, Bo Bichette, and Marcus Semien, the Mets have hit at .200 in the last 11 games, per USA Today.

They are badly missing Juan Soto’s at-bats, as the team only put together 19 runs during their slump. The Mets have been shut down twice.

Lindor himself is hitting just .205, going 18-for-88, with 1 homer and 1 RBI so far in the season.

As the Mets end their road trip and prepare to host the Minnesota Twins, it remains to be seen whether the Mets’ ownership still keeps its trust in Mendoza.