Juan Soto says Mets still playoff team amid August swoon

WASHINGTON — Juan Soto believes the Mets are “100 percent” a playoff team, but a postseason run looks iffy at best for the most expensive roster in the major leagues.

Poor starting pitching and nagging injuries have sent New York into a tailspin, with the latest indignity coming Thursday, when the Mets blew an early 3-0 lead and lost 9-3 to drop a series against the last-place Washington Nationals.

“Since day one, we believe in each other and we believe we can make it to the playoffs,” Soto said. “We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to play better as a team and try to win more games.”

Wins have been scarce since late July. Even with a three-game win streak that began on Saturday, the Mets have lost 16 of 21 to fall seven games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. They lead Cincinnati by one-half game for the final NL wild-card spot.

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Soto was no help as the Mets lost the final two games against the franchise that signed him as a 16-year-old in 2015, going 0-for-8 with five strikeouts after he hit his 31st homer in Tuesday’s 8-1 win. In the first year of a record $765 million, 15-year contract, Soto is batting .247.

At least he’s healthy, which is more than can be said for several other Mets regulars. The trip to Washington began with the news that slugging catcher Francisco Alvarez has a sprained ligament in his right thumb that will require surgery, although Alvarez will try to play through the pain after a stint on the injured list.

Left fielder Brandon Nimmo was pulled from Wednesday’s game with a stiff neck and sat out Thursday, and second baseman Jeff McNeil was out of Thursday’s lineup with a sore right shoulder — until manager Carlos Mendoza, lacking better options, sent McNeil out to pinch-hit in the eighth inning with New York trailing 5-3.

McNeil struck out looking on three pitches and played the ninth in left field, even though the injury is most painful when he throws.

“I’m trying to stay away from him,” Mendoza said. “I’m trying to limit [him] on the field as well, but where we were at, I just needed to shoot him there.”

Nimmo’s neck showed no improvement Thursday, Mendoza said.

Meanwhile, with the exception of David Peterson, the Mets’ starting rotation can’t get through the middle innings.

Kodai Senga, who lost Wednesday night, has a 6.00 ERA in his last six starts while averaging fewer than five innings per appearance. Sean Manaea cruised through three innings Thursday but couldn’t get out of the fifth and hasn’t completed six innings in eight starts this season.

“It starts with our starters, starting pitching. They set the tone. When they go, the whole team pretty much goes,” Mendoza said. “At this point, everybody pretty much healthy, we need to be better.”

The Mets travel to Atlanta for a weekend series before returning to Citi Field to host the Phillies. New York has seven games left against the division leaders, but shoring up a wild-card spot is the more realistic path to the playoffs.

“We don’t have much time left,” Mendoza said. “So, we’ve got to play better.”