3 brutal lessons for the NY Mets after getting swept by the Athletics

There’s always an unexpected sweep to spoil the mood of New York Mets fans every year. This year, it came pretty early. From April 10-12, the Mets fell flat on their face. Three straight losses with two practically mimicking each other on the bookend of the series, there were some important brutal lessons to take from the series sweep at the hands of a team the Mets should have stolen at least one away from.

Three lessons for the Mets to ponder about

1) They need to plan off-days for their hot hitters better

On Sunday, the Mets sat Luis Robert Jr. and Francisco Alvarez. The only two guys hitting with any consistency out of the lineup together has bad news written all over it. Shutout twice in three tries against the Athletics, the Mets need to rethink how they handle Robert’s planned off-days and their usage of Alvarez differently. While fans will complain whenever either sit, especially when no one else is doing much, it can be justified by spreading out those days off. The Mets chose to give the duo the day off together. In a 1-0 loss, they really were one swing away from at least tying the game.

2) Mark Vientos and Brett Baty cannot be trusted

Brett Baty hasn’t fully heated up and the Mets never added him back into the microwave, Meanwhile, Mark Vientos has cooled off. The once young duo now entering the latter half of their 20s haven’t stepped up in the absence of Juan Soto like the Mets needed them to. What was once a debate about who should be the future third baseman developed into a contest of who could get the most innings at first base this year. Well, right now, neither seemes to want it. The right/lefty duo have regularly been placed into the best position to succeed with Vientos regularly facing lefties and Baty getting opportunities against righties. Alas, neither has had encouraging performances this year.

3) David Stearns is going to get a lot wrong

DFA’ding Richard Lovelady and Luis Garcia isn’t a surprise, but on consecutive days, it shows a lapse in planning and talent. We now have Craig Kimbrel and Joey Gerber to look forward to. Far more significant was Jeff McNeil pounding the ball all weekend long and being at the center of more than cheers from fans. He was front and center of several significant moments for the A’s. Meanwhile, Marcus Semien had one hit. Brandon Nimmo is clobbering the ball against the Dodgers. It was not a good weekend for Stearns whose “run prevention” theme is becoming a punchline his haters can’t stop relaying.