PORT STREET LUCIE — Jeff McNeil is a rumor.
Yeti. UFO. Nessie out on the lake.
The Mets continue to hint at Major League Spring Training activity for McNeil, which was postponed again from Sunday to Tuesday. He has a locker in his home clubhouse at Clover Park. But at the windows reporters are allowed to enter, their backs may be visible as they move from one restricted area to another. The closest thing to McNeil in the clubhouse is non-roster Rylan Bannon, who looks a lot like McNeil.
But now even Bannon has been reassigned to minor league camp.
At the risk of sounding too suspicious, I checked with Carlos Mendoza, Brandon Nimmo and hitting coach Eric Chavez to confirm that McNeil exists and is not Sid Finch 2.0. Each laughed and assured me that, yes, McNeil was healing from a torn elbow ligament and playing all but a major league game, but Chavez initially said, “I’m the same way.” he joked. But I actually saw him running earlier. ”
It’s okay for McNeil to be a ghost now, especially since Chavez insists the left-handed swinger “only needs 20 at-bats to get ready.” [for the regular season]. He’s a roll-off-the-bed type of hitter. ” But McNeil has to play for the Mets in 2024.
Much has been made about Starling Marte being the catalyst for the Mets’ 100-win goal in 2022, and what his lackluster performance and injury absence last year meant for the 75-win club. However, McNeil’s fall from the National League batter’s title to a toothless bat was also central to the sudden decline.
His 56-point drop from .326 to .270 was the third-largest in the majors among players with at least 200 at-bats in 2022 and 2023, trailing close Met Carlos Correa’s cliff-diving 62-point drop. and Pete Alonso’s 55 points.
Chavez, who served as bench coach last season, said he felt McNeil got the worst of both worlds, torn between pulling for power and hitting for average. McNeil’s average exit velocity of 86 mph in 2023 was the lowest of his career. But McNeil doesn’t hit the ball as hard as he did when he hit .319 from 2018-2020 or in 2022, when he had a strong season. Chavez likened McNeil’s talent to his successor. National League batting champion Luis Arraez of Miami is spraying the ball for his success. And Chavez said it’s important for McNeil and the Mets that that version is the player who resurfaces in 2024.
This brings us back to the expected date when McNeil will begin to see if he has the magic batting wand again. The Mets announced late last season that McNeil suffered a tear in his elbow that would not require surgery. This spring, Mendoza said, he has been hitting out of the backfield and doing all the defensive drills. Mendoza then explained that the decision for McNeil to back out of his original plan to play against the Nationals on Sunday and instead play on the minor league side was to control the atmosphere for another day. The manager said the current plan is for McNeil to play against the Cardinals on Tuesday after the entire team gets a day off on Monday.
And what Mendoza continues to say is that McNeil will be ready for March 28th against the Brewers at Citi Field. And what the Mets continue to stand for is the roller coaster of a .311 batting average in 2020, followed by a .251 batting average, and last year’s .326 batting average and .270 batting average.He turns 32 next month and still has three RBIs. This means that McNeil, who has 2019 left in the league, is poised for another strong season. He has $43.75 million and many years left on his contract.
“He doesn’t have to be the Jeff McNeil of 2022,” Nimmo said. “He doesn’t need to win a batting title for us. All we need is solid at-bats and him getting on base a lot. If that happens, our offense will be much better.”
McNeil will primarily be anchored as a second baseman this year, rather than a regular corner outfielder. It has not yet been determined where he will bat. Mendoza prefers a set lineup, but he hasn’t decided yet what order he prefers, he said. Manager Buck Showalter said he had no worries about McNeil being played all over the lineup, and manager Chavez said that if McNeil once again has a high batting average and gets into tough at-bats, he has the option of playing behind Alonso. He said it would be. This is the role the Mets must play. This point ignored filling from the outside.
Coach Mendoza said he plans to split left-handed hitters to avoid lanes where opposing relievers can easily make decisions. And here again, McNeil’s comeback is essential. The main left-handed hitters are Nimmo and switch hitter Francisco Lindor. Can Brett Batty play third base and get an extra base hit? Will Choi Ji-man or DJ Stewart make a team that provides a left-handed DH option?
McNeil improved in 2020 and 2022, hitting .316 and .332, respectively, against right-handed pitchers. In 2021 and 2023, when he didn’t bat, McNeil hit .251 and .260 against right-handed batters.
In order to maintain balance and length in the lineup, the Mets could put up with his mystery man behavior in spring training.
But once the season starts, you can’t write him off again.
