3 Mets players to blame most for their deathblow sweep against the Dodgers

The New York Mets would have trouble getting Mr. Met to believe in them. An invite for the Los Angeles Dodgers to come to Citi Field is rarely fun. On death’s doorstep, it was maybe the last chance for the team to show any sign of life.

Well, it didn’t go that way. Three losses in as many opportunities with plenty of blame to go around, narrowing down who deserves the most isn’t necessarily easy. A rainout followed by a doubleheader sweep with two very different yet equally hurtful losses and then a final dagger on Wednesday has fans wondering what else there will be to do in London next month.

Among all of the participants, it’s these three who deserve the most blame.

1) Adam Ottavino

Adam Ottavino is loyal to Edwin Diaz. He’s fighting to take the spot on the roster as the most untrustworthy reliever. Things had been going so well for Ottavino. Sure, he was occasionally blowing games or having some rough patches. Until recently, however, he was exactly what the Mets bullpen needed in the back.

Ottavino blew the first game of the series and was tagged with the loss in the second. Retiring just one batter and allowing 4 earned runs in game three of this series sealed his spot as one of the people to blame most for the Mets falling further back in the standings.

His return to Queens began so well and only recently spiraled out of control. The nauseating part of it all is in the last week whenever a player does something good the only reaction is to think “maybe they’ll have some trade deadline value.” When things go poorly, we think the opposite. Quickly, players like Ottavino are losing that value.

3) Jeff McNeil

Man, it’s hard to see Jeff McNeil in the lineup every day and every inning. The Mets are likely to add a middle infielder to the roster today. All of this playing time for McNeil hasn’t helped break him out of his season-long slump. He finally did manage to pick up a hit in the finale against the Dodgers but not before going hitless in both games of the doubleheader. 

Most frustrating was McNeil popping out with a chance to win it in the ninth in game one of the series. With the bases juiced, McNeil made the final out of the inning after Tyrone Taylor’s own questionable at-bat. Taylor didn’t play nearly enough in this series to be considered someone to blame above a guy like McNeil whose abilities seem to have completely disappeared.

No longer a guy who’ll hit for average, he isn’t even an average defender. He’s well below it. McNeil wears his emotions on his sleeves like an advertisement. The strong emotions in a year where the Mets have been this awful and he has been a big part of it has caused many of his adoring fans to reach a breaking point. There is no reason why he should be in the starting lineup any longer.