All we know so far is that the Mets needed a win and some help but got neither, officially ending their playoff hopes on the season’s final day. By mid-June, they held the best record in the league, but a brutal 38-55 slide, including losing 16 of their final 25 games, left them tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the final playoff spot. Cincinnati held the tiebreaker, sealing the Mets’ fate. And just as fans began to process this epic failure, a bizarre new rumor began to swirl around the team’s $78M star.

The saga started after an X account named “woli” shared what looked like a screenshot of Starling Marte’s Instagram story, where we can see the star outfielder standing in an empty Dodger Stadium. The image of the empty ballpark had a confused caption tagging another team superstar, Juan Soto: “¿Dónde están todos?????” (“Where is everyone?????”). And the account further added its own commentary: “Starling Marte seems to have forgotten that the Mets missed the playoffs. He is at Dodger Stadium, confused as to where the team is, according to his IG.”

The post instantly went viral. And everyone was interested in whether Starling Marte actually forgot his team had just been eliminated?

But here’s the thing—it was all a brilliant piece of satire. A quick check of Marte’s actual Instagram account (@marte06) revealed no such post. The account, Woli, soon replied to its own tweet: “For those of you questioning, this is not real.” Then he followed up with:” If he is in Los Angeles, he is there to watch the $110M lineup that got in the playoffs over us. He is NOT THERE because he thinks he’s playing.”

So, now that we know the 36-year-old wasn’t actually lost at Dodger Stadium, let’s look at the team that will be there. The Cincinnati Reds snatched that final playoff spot right from under the Mets. After missing the postseason in a full season since 2013, the Reds surged at the perfect time, and everything was so quick that Reds manager Terry Francona said, “This is a whole new season. And it’s funny, because even in a short series, you’ll have ups and downs, and they just happen quicker. So, again, you try to have urgency without panic.” And they will face the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, which starts tonight at 9:08 p.m. ET.

While the Reds and Dodgers will eventually play, the fake tweet continues to make the rounds because it was so cleverly constructed that, for a moment, it almost felt real.

Why the Marte tweet felt so real

First, the choice of Dodger Stadium was spot on and a perfect jab. While the Mets’ $342M payroll produced a historic collapse, the Dodgers’ slightly smaller payroll bought them another division title after a World Series championship in 2024. It highlighted a franchise with all the money in the world but none of the results. Plus, if the Mets get the October ticket, which was almost certain till the last month, they will face the Dodgers, so again the choice of the stadium was perfect.

Furthermore, fans know Starling Marte’s internet presence has no filter and, at times, is completely unpredictable. This is, after all, the same player who once posted a bizarre video of a rodent strapped to a bottle rocket. That history created a tiny window of plausibility, and fans could think, “What did Marte do now?” for a moment instead of immediately dismissing it as fake.

Finally, tagging superstar Juan Soto was the final nail in the coffin. Marte and Soto share a deep, public friendship. Marte has been Soto’s mentor and biggest supporter since he joined the Mets, with Soto even calling him the team’s “actual captain.” This close bond made the tag feel authentic.

In the end, the viral tweet was a lie and wasn’t real, but still, the feelings of frustration it captured certainly were.