Maybe the bright orange of the cooler was clashing too aggressively with the rest of the dugout's color scheme. Maybe someone downstairs was desperately in need of a drink...But probably Jake Diekman was just really pissed about allowing another home run. In letting off steam by chucking the cooler, he created a pretty accurate image of what it's been like to watch the New York Mets.
The Mets thrice cut a three-run deficit to one in this game before ultimately falling 7-6. Coupled with the Phillies' continued torrid start, New York is already a demoralizing 13.5 games back in the division, and the problems are too widespread to believe that there's a fixed version of this team waiting around the corner.
For as out-of-nowhere as it felt when the Mets won 101 games in 2022, they were in no way a young team on the rise. New York put together that outlier season with the league's oldest collection of pitchers and third-oldest group of hitters...Key swingers like Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte have declined, while stars Pete Alonso and the slumping Francisco Lindor haven't upped their games in turn.
The pitching problems are easy to diagnose. The Mets' top starters of 2022 were Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, both long gone, and the bullpen was anchored by Adam Ottavino. Edwin Díaz, who's only suffered misfortune since turning a trumpet loop into a jock jam.
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