3 Mets most to blame for NL Wild Card defeat to Padres

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 07: Max Scherzer #21 of the New York Mets reacts in the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres during game one of the NL Wild Card Series at Citi Field on October 07, 2022 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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Jeff McNeil, New York Mets (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

2. Jeff McNeil

It was a remarkable season for Jeff McNeil. The 30-year-old made his way onto the National League All-Star team for just the second time in his career and, of course, was able to capture the NL batting title with a .326 average and .836 OPS to go along with that. He was a consistent presence on the basepaths throughout the regular season.

That, unfortunately, was not the case when the bright lights of the playoffs got turned up.

Though McNeil did help the Mets secure the 7-3 lead in Game 2 with an RBI double, that was just one of two times that the second baseman reached base in the series across 11 plate appearances. That double also led to the only time that he crossed the plate in the series as well.

For a player who was quite literally the most efficient hitter in the National League during the regular season to come up so wildly empty in a playoff series — even if the Padres pitching was quite good in Games 1 and 3 — is something that the club could ill afford.

His performance in the postseason doesn’t diminish how well he played in the regular series, but it was undoubtedly a problem that cost the Mets in the NL Wild Card.

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