Mets’ return to mediocrity is killing their playoff hopes

There was the ugly phase of the Mets season that lasted into late May. 

Next came the meteoric rise over six weeks that fueled postseason dreams. 

Now meteoric has been replaced by mediocrity — or something worse — threatening to bury the Mets even before they start a road trip next week in which they will face the Padres and Diamondbacks, both of whom are steering the National League wild-card race. 

Before the Mets fell to 13-13 since the All-Star break with their ugly 7-6 loss to the A’s on Thursday at Citi Field, president of baseball operations David Stearns remained bullish on the team’s postseason chances. 

The root of his optimism? 

“I think we’re a good team,” Stearns said. “I think we have demonstrated that. There have been periods of this season where we have played like the best team in baseball and I think we’re capable of doing that again.” 

They need to start soon. 

The Mets have played three series against AL West teams over the last two weeks and lost all of them, finishing 2-7 against the Angels, Mariners and A’s. Somewhere in between, the Mets managed to win a series in Colorado. 

On their last road trip, offense was the issue. Then the Mets returned home and began scoring runs only to have their pitching betray them. Sound familiar? The same theme played out in May as the Mets were free falling to 11 games below .500. 

J.D. Martinez, who is among the Mets players who has struggled to produce since the All-Star break, said the team took a “who cares?” mentality in resurrecting its season. That topic, he said, arose again in a discussion among teammates this week. 

“It was one of those things [before], ‘Let’s just go have fun,’ ” Martinez said. “It’s one of those things that snowballed and all of a sudden we get to this point, we make a couple of trades, we’re in it, and now all of a sudden it’s a little bit more pressure. 

“One of the things we talked about is that ‘who cares?’ mentality. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose, what does it matter? That is what got us here and we just have to ride it out until the end of the season.”

Jose Quintana was emblematic of the team’s midseason rise as a pitcher who found his groove for several weeks and helped carry the rotation. Lately he’s been just as emblematic of the team’s struggles. 

The lefty walked two batters in the fourth inning to load the bases before JJ Bleday neatly tucked a first-pitch slurve into the right-field seats. Grand slam. Quintana had squandered most of the five-run lead he was handed and the A’s finished the comeback against Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett. 

All told, the Mets walked 11 batters and hit another. It’s who the Mets have been as a pitching staff this season with an NL-leading 479 walks. 

“We have to dig deep and see what’s going on here,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When we struggled early in the year that was one of the main issues — the free passes, too many non-competitive pitches.” 

The Mets scored 19 runs in three games, an encouraging sign after nearly getting shut out an entire weekend series in Seattle, but can they put it together for sustained success? 

One of the few steady performers has been Mark Vientos, who blasted two homers Thursday and owns a .908 OPS over his last 44 games. He batted in the No. 2 hole for the first time this season as Brandon Nimmo was sidelined by a stomach virus. 

The ailment might serve as the perfect reset point for Nimmo, who is 1-for-21 over his last six games amid an overall slump since the All-Star break. 

Before the Mets began their turnaround this season, Mendoza switched the lineup to move a slumping Francisco Lindor to leadoff, with Nimmo hitting second or third. Now you wonder if Nimmo might benefit from a move lower into the order, allowing Vientos to remain second. 

Mendoza said it’s something that will be considered. 

Stearns declined to speculate on how many wins it might take for the Mets to reach the postseason. For now, he’s more interested in stringing together wins and staying in the race. 

“I think once you get to mid-September, you are a little more cognizant of what’s going on around you,” Stearns said. 

The Mets can only hope that by mid-September any of it will matter.