It all came crashing down in one ugly afternoon that could have been a turning point. The Mets had set themselves up perfectly: a series win in sight, a three-run cushion by the fourth inning, and signs—finally—that the offense and pitching could click together. Then, as has become all too familiar this season, it unraveled. By the time the Nationals finished pummeling them 9–3, what could have been a statement victory had morphed into a catastrophic collapse that cut the Mets’ wild-card cushion to a mere half-game.

That loss did not just sting; it poured gasoline on a fire that had been smoldering for weeks. Pitching, once identified as the backbone of the Mets roster, is falling apart. Sean Manaea, the star who carried the Mets last season, lasted just 4 ²/₃ innings, surrendering four earned runs and leaving with a bloated 5.15 ERA. The bullpen was not any better—Ryne Stanek’s eighth-inning implosion turned a close game into a blowout. As one fan said in a now-viral two-minute rant, “I have never seen a team more… miserable… heartless, gutless, ba–ess… This team loves losing. They’re never going to win. It’s over.”

Such a tirade, expletive-laden and relentless, did not spare anyone; however, it saved its sharpest daggers for two individuals: the team’s star hitter, Juan Soto and its manager. “Watsona’s a mega… bust. Mendoza’s a bug. He’s the manager I thought he was. He… sucks,” the fan raged, and truthfully, the timing of such a rant could not have been worse for either man. Juan Soto’s postgame remarks—“We have to win today… We don’t have to be focused on what is going to happen in the future”—came across as hollow to the fans starving for urgency. For a star brought in to be the face of resilience, such a moment looked like shrugging in the middle of a storm.

Carlos Mendoza has not fared better in the court of public opinion. The manager’s reviews after the game—“We have got to get going… We have got to see results” rang as generic as ever. The issue? Outcomes are not coming, and patience is gone. Fans remember last season’s high, when everything clicked. The fans now see a manager unable to stop a freefall and inject energy into a roster that looks beaten before the final pitch. As the fan said, “Last year was a fluke… he took the heart out of the team. There’s no heart, no guts.”

The reaction speaks to something deeper than just a bad loss. It is a growing belief that the Mets are not just underperforming—they’re soft, directionless, and perhaps beyond saving this season. With a brutal stretch looming—the Braves and the Phillies next—it is tough to argue otherwise. The question now is not whether the rant was justified; it is whether this was the breaking point for the fans who are running out of reasons to care.

However, while the anger from fans is boiling over, the stars themselves are singing a very distinctive tune—one that could sound more like stubborn belief than reality.

Juan Soto takes a hard stance on Mets playoff hopes

If you listened only to Juan Soto after Thursday’s debacle, you would think the Mets are ready to shock the world. Soto’s statement to reporters was unwavering: “100% since day one, we believe in each other and believe we can make it to the playoffs.” Confidence is great, sure, however, when you are clinging to a half-game lead for the final wild card and just got flattened by the last-place Nationals, it looks a little… detached. Fans are not buying talk anymore. They want wins, not words.

And this is the issue: the data does not back up Juan Soto. Since that seven-game win streak in late July, the team has gone 5-16—a freefall that buried the Mets seven games behind the Phillies and stripped the team of any margin for error. This is not just bad luck; it is systemic. Starting pitching is collapsing. Sean Manaea can not make it past the fifth inning. The bullpen, once a supposed power after trade deadline reinforcements, just got torched by the worst relief corps in MLB. With September coming quickly and six straight series against winning teams, “focus on today” could not cut it.

Still, the star’s stance is not meaningless. It highlights a team refusing to admit defeat as the walls close in. There is pride in that, which could be a sliver of hope. However, it is a dangerous line—they risk looking delusional if the slide continues. As the fan bluntly put it online: “This team can kiss my… they are the softest bunch of losers ever.” If the team does not deliver in the next two weeks, no amount of belief will save the Mets from the standings and from their fans.

`