The only thing more astounding than the Mets being the hottest team in baseball right now is that the reigning World Series champions are watching their season slip away in August.

The Red Sox have lost nine of their last 10 games entering Thursday, including an eight-game losing skid that ended on Monday night against the Royals. They followed that up by losing to 41-74 Kansas City and having Wednesday’s game suspended while tied 4-4 in the 10th.

The Red Sox still had some life in the second half after going 5-2 in back-to-back series with the Rays and the Yankees, but that has quickly disintegrated.

Now, Boston sits 16 games behind the Yankees and, more disturbingly, six games back in the wild-card race. If this is a World Series hangover, the Red Sox should have taken some Tylenol long ago.

So, what went wrong?

The Red Sox had a relatively quiet offseason and returned with virtually the same roster as the 2018 championship team, which went 108-54 in the regular season.

The Red Sox offense has still been prolific with their 665 runs, second in baseball to the Yankees’ 677. The Red Sox lead the league with 1,143 hits and a .274 batting average.

But the go-to guys from last season have had significant dropoffs.

Mookie Betts went from a slash line of .346/.438/.640 in 136 games last season to .282/.390/.487 in 114 games in 2019.  J.D. Martinez has gone from .330/.402/.629 in his first year in Boston to .302/.377/.546 this year. Solid seasons for both outfielders, but not the other-worldly level they played at a year ago.

But the biggest problem has been the pitching. They have been unable to fill the opening left behind by closer Craig Kimbrel as the committee approach has been a mess. 

Ace Chris Sale is on pace for the worst season in his 10-year career, currently holding a 5-11 record with a climbing 4.68 ERA. David Price’s impressive World Series has not carried over to this season, and on Thursday he was placed on the injured list with a TFCC cyst in his left wrist, which was treated with a cortisone shot. Rick Porcello has seen his ERA balloon to 5.54 this season.

Nathan Eovaldi, who was a savior down the stretch and in the postseason for Boston last season after it acquired him from the Rays, dealt with an elbow injury for most of this season and was moved to the bullpen when he came back in July. Eovaldi is confirming all the risks that had teams hesitant this offseason before he signed a four-year, $68 million deal to return to Boston.

The Red Sox starting rotation has compiled a 9.50 ERA during this 10-game tailspin, and Boston manager Alex Cora revealed recently that he and his coaching staff are considering making adjustments.

“There’s ideas,” Cora told the Boston Globe of potentially shaking up his staff. “As far as where the schedule is right now, it’s kind of tough to be creative. . . . Then the off-days will come because of interleague, [and] we might get creative at that time.”

But with the way things have gone for the Red Sox, there’s not much to lose.