Back on June 12, when the Mets' sixth-straight win moved them to a season-high 21 games over .500 at 45-24, they appeared to be some kind of unstoppable force.
They might win the NL East, or they might not, but they were a team that was going to coast to the playoffs.
Once there, the Mets would have as good a chance as any to win the World Series -- especially with the Dodgers' superteam failing to materialize and the American League being relatively weak.
The team quickly shot the above to pieces, though, going on a 3-14 stretch that left them at 48-38 on July 2.
That felt aberrational, though.
And after bobbing and weaving for a bit, New York ripped off a seven-game winning streak to move to 62-44 entering play on July 28, putting them close to where they were a month and a half before.
It seemed that was the turning point for the Mets. Like things had stabilized. That they were again on a clear path to October that was unquestioned.
Since then, the Mets have gone 5-16, putting their season in peril.
New York enters this weekend's series in Atlanta -- their personal house of horrors -- with a half-game lead (one game in the loss column) on the upstart Reds for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.
And while much of the conversation right now is revolving around whether the Mets would be a serious threat in the postseason, the actual conversation should be about whether they'll get there at all.
Coming off a series loss to the woeful Nationals after a feel-good series win over the Mariners and a blowout victory over the Nats on Tuesday, it's easy to highlight Thursday's loss as a microcosm of what's gone wrong this season.
New York jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and had Sean Manaea on the mound. They should've coasted to victory.
Instead, Manaea couldn't get out of the fifth inning, Tyler Rogers allowed two of the runners he inherited from Manaea to score, Ryne Stanek surrendered four runs late, and the Mets' bats couldn't muster a single run after falling behind in the bottom of the fifth.
It's been the same song and dance for the Mets during their brutal streak.
The offense is hit and miss.
The starting rotation can't get out of its own way.
The biggest bullpen acquisitions (Rogers and Ryan Helsley) have struggled, and other bullpen pieces (especially Reed Garrett and Stanek) have poured gasoline on the fire.
A lot of things have conspired to get the Mets to this point.
Manaea being out for the first half of the season, Kodai Senga missing time, and the season-ending injury to Griffin Canning put the rotation in a tough spot.
The recent injury to Francisco Alvarez (who will try to return and play through a thumb injury) and the injuries to Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil left the Mets shorthanded against the Nats. And the Alvarez injury is especially damaging considering that he had been on fire since returning from the minors -- and that he might not make it back this season at all.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned bullpen has squandered lead after lead this month, leading in part to a stretch where New York lost seven consecutive one-run games.
But while you can fairly point to the above as being contributing factors when it comes to what's happening, the main issue is that the players simply aren't performing up to expectations.
That includes the wobbles of Senga and Manaea.
It includes a bullpen that should be lockdown but has been anything but.
And it includes an offense that has struggled badly when it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position, moving runners over, and with their general approach at the plate.
Could David Stearns have assembled a starting rotation that had fewer question marks? And should Nolan McLean have been called up about a month before he was? Sure.
Are there certain little things Carlos Mendoza can do better in-game? Sure.
But this is not on Stearns, who has done a very good job as president of baseball operations. And it is not on Mendoza, who has been a stabilizing force in his nearly two years as manager.
That takes away a boogeyman to blame, which can be frustrating for fans who are trying to point fingers at something other than the players.
But it's the players who have put the team in this position, and it's the players who will have to get themselves out of it.
