The 2026 New York Mets are presently living proof that the best data analytics and AI can’t reliably build an offensive juggernaut. As of this writing, the 2026 Mets are on a 9 game skid in which they’ve scored just 16 runs (1.8 per game), and have been shutout 3 times.
The Mets first 3 batters in the lineup last night had batting averages of .158, .226 and .200.
Historically, the Mets have been a poor hitting club. Back in the 1970s, the Mets famously had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack. The trio of starters pitched the Mets to the 7th game of the 1973 World Series, despite the fact that the Mets were the 2nd worst batting team in the National League that year, just barely hitting better than the 102 loss Padres.
But in one crazy game, 50 years ago last night, on April 17, 1976, in Pittsburgh, the Mets defeated the defending NL East champion Pirates 17 - 1.
In that game, the Mets had an uncharacteristic 21 hits, and every single starting player had 2 or more hits.
Take a look at the box score:
In that game, the Mets did something their cross-town rivals, The Bronx Bombers, never did. Despite having some of the greatest batters in history - Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Mattingly, etc., the Yankees never had a game in which every starting player had at least 2 hits. Even in the DH era, the Yankees have never done it.
In the National League, no team since the 1934 Giants had a game in which all 9 starting players had at least 2 hits.
And in the American League it hadn’t been done since the White Sox in 1939.
I find this astonishing.
What I love about the above Mets box score are all the “home grown” players on the Mets. I grew up with these guys and I loved them.
Each of these Mets players in the above box score had come up through the Mets farm system:
Wayne Garrett
John Milner
Ed Kranepool
Ron Hodges
Bud Harrelson
Jerry Koosman
As a fan, I need to feel an emotional connection to the players and that is built by watching the players develop over many years.
In contrast, the current Mets management discarded three “home grown” players Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso prior to the start of this season. Alonso was the all-time franchise HR leader, and he wasn’t even offered a contract in the offseason. Nimmo is now batting .313 for the Rangers. McNeil, a former NL batting champion while with the Mets is batting a respectable .279 with the A’s. And Alonso, while only batting .216, has a better batting average than 5 of the Mets 8 players that have more than 50 at bats.
Mets management, with all their fancy data analytics and AI tools, is making it really difficult for me to feel that fan connection to the team right now. And it’s not working to produce an offense that can win games. I’d rather have the “home grown” players back and take my chances with the guys I loved to watch.