For Juan Soto and the struggling New York Mets, those few “inches” that the skipper recalled between the fair and foul area at Citi Field aptly summed up their situation. As they watched, their hopes of making the playoffs slipped away with every wasted chance. With the postseason race getting difficult, the $765M slugger issued a warning if they still want to save the season.

On Wednesday night, the Mets lost 7-4 against the Padres. A twist came in the seventh inning, where Juan Soto had to face All-Star reliever Mason Miller with a runner on base after Francisco Alvarez’s home run sliced the lead to one. The left-handed batter with a nice swing hit a 102.6 mph fastball and sent a high drive into the left field corner. Citi Field erupted briefly as a potential game-tying home run landed just inches foul, demoralizing 40,000 fans and sealing yet another painful loss.

The near-miss underscored the urgency behind the 26-year-old message. “We just have to try to be a little bit more consistent,” Soto said. “We still have a playoff spot so we’re definitely still in this, but we have to get going today because tomorrow is going to be too late, we have to get going right now.” 

Unfortunately, the numbers reflect just how precarious their situation has become.

The Mets’ chances of making the playoffs got very small after Wednesday’s crushing loss. They are still holding on to the last NL Wild Card slot. But with the D-Backs only 1.5 games behind them, and the Reds and Giants are right behind them, things are getting tight. They recently had an eight-game skid that almost knocked the team out of the NL wild-card chase. With all these losses, the playoff chance has now dropped from 94.5% to 82.1% as per FanGraphs.

Despite personal milestones, Soto remains focused on the bigger picture. Even after hitting his career-high 41st home run earlier in the game, he knew that personal achievements don’t mean much if the team doesn’t win. As he mentioned after the game, “I mean it’s good but we just didn’t accomplish the mission, so it doesn’t matter for me.”

Juan Soto’s sense of urgency is clear, but there are rumors going around the club concerning deeper problems. One of the MLB Insider think that the issues might go deeper than merely bad execution and missed chances. Could there be anything more going on in the Mets’ clubhouse?

Too many sluggers? Rosenthal wonders if the Mets’ star power is backfiring

Something’s not right in Queens, and Ken Rosenthal can feel it. The baseball insider didn’t hold back during his September 15 appearance on Foul Territory. “Something seems off with [the Mets],” Rosenthal said. “I don’t know exactly what it is, if anything. The Mets’ big stars… they’re viewed by the team… all good people, all good guys. No one says, ‘This guy’s a jerk, that guy is that,’ or anything like that. But is it all meshing together perfectly? I would suggest that the evidence says no.”

Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso aren’t locker room problems. “Big stars create a different and occasionally uncomfortable dynamic. The Mets’ big stars, Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso, are viewed by those with the club as good people. They work hard and surely want to win as much as Harper, Schwarber, and Turner. But something appears off with this team,” Rosenthal explained.

Rosenthal’s theory is simple: too many sluggers, not enough room. “These guys are who they are… because they have massive egos. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. They have incredible belief in their abilities. They’re all alphas. And when you put these players all in a room together, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” he explained.

Rosenthal admits he’s guessing, but the Mets’ collapse tells a story. “It has just been striking with the Mets that this is such a slide for them… You just wonder, ‘Hey, what else is up with them?'” Maybe it’s chemistry issues. Maybe they’re just not as good as we thought. Either way, with playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Mets better figure it out fast—October waits for no one.