The New York Mets had two representatives selected to MiLB.com‘s inaugural 2018 All-MiLB Team, first baseman Peter Alonso and second baseman Jeff McNeil.
Alonso, 24, exploded into the upper levels of minor league baseball last season, carrying a combined .285/.395/.579 slash line between 65 games with Double-A Binghamton and 67 games with Triple-A Las Vegas.
“Yes, Alonso tied for the minor league lead with 36 homers and led the minors with 119 [runs batted in],” wrote Sam Dykstra, author of the above-linked article. “But he was also among the full-season minor league leaders in total bases (277, third), extra-base hits (68, third), slugging (fifth), OPS (ninth), and walks (76, 14th).”
Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has mentioned the Florida native as his Opening Day first-baseman, though by holding him out of the majors for the first two weeks of the season, the team would gain an extra year of service time, as per Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.
Barring anything unforeseen — or downright catastrophic, to be frank — Peter Alonso will be manning first base at Citi Field at some point very early on in the 2019 season.
Jeff McNeil has not only already gotten a taste of the major leagues, but he thrived, putting up an eye-opening .329/.381/.471 slash line over 248 MLB plate appearances. He even received a third-place vote for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
But before he made that remarkable entrance, the now-26-year-old absolutely raked between Binghamton (57 games) and Las Vegas (31 games). The Santa Barbara, California native slashed .342/.411/.617 across both levels with just 42 strikeouts over 384 plate appearances.
“The left-handed slugger’s 176 [weighted runs created plus rating] was not only ten points higher than the closest competition at the position — [Tampa Bay prospect] Brandon Lowe had a 166 mark,” wrote Dykstra. “It was the fourth-best among all minor leaguers.”
Though Jeff McNeil is now essentially blocked at second base by the newly-acquired Robinson Cano, one would have to imagine a super-utility role centered around a de facto platoon at third base with Todd Frazier would be a great way to keep McNeil’s contact-friendly bat in the lineup.
