3 Mets to blame most for their embarrassing sweep against the Brewers

2) Jeff McNeil

A couple of Mets hitters had a miserable weekend. Jeff McNeil, however, added his place in the center of controversy on Opening Day when he reacted so loudly to the controversial slide against him by Rhys Hoskins. Dirty or not, McNeil’s excessive response set the tone for the rest of the series.

Add in how little McNeil contributed at the plate and he deserves at least some of the blame. McNeil started his season going 1 for 10. Following a down year for the 2022 NL batting champion, this was not the pleasant beginning fans were hoping to see.

Others equally as culpable slumpers from the core of the roster include Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. They had arguably as bad if not worse opening weekends. Nimmo K’ed a whole bunch and Lindor even added an error to his stat sheet. Their performances were more “lost” in all of the controversy.

McNeil’s time as the cleanup hitter will run out quickly with the eventual arrival of J.D. Martinez clearing him from those duties. With his arrival to the Mets roster still a few more days away, it’ll be up to the manager to make a switch and maybe reward hot-hitting Francisco Alvarez with a higher spot in the order.

Speaking of the skipper, he sets the tone and the tone right now is a bad one.