Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff McNeil hit a birthday bash for the second straight season on Friday.
Last year, McNeil went deep on his 29th birthday. This year, McNeil replicated the feat on his 30th, tying the game at one apiece in the third inning. The Mets went on to beat the Nationals 7-3 to improve to 2-0 on the very young season.
“I put a good swing on that one,” McNeil said. “Back-to-back years. Pretty exciting to have a good game on your birthday.”
McNeil had three hits on the day, as well as a walk. He’s 5-for-8 in the Mets’ two games thus far, beginning what he hopes to be a bounceback season.
He’s done all this out of the eight-hole so far, partly because of the Mets’ deep lineup and partly because of last year’s struggles. He produced an underwhelming campaign in 2021, batting just .251 with a .679 OPS. Even with the drop in production, McNeil still owns a lifetime batting line of .301/.366/.463 over 1,312 at-bats in the major leagues. Perhaps a strong start to the season will spark a return to that level of play.
The Mets’ offense as a unit has been operating a force here in the early going. They’ve recorded a total of 25 hits already, bringing across 12 runs. Brandon Nimmo had two hits in his first game of the season Friday, while newcomers Starling Marte and Mark Canha each provided a pair. The Mets appear to have a well-rounded lineup so far, getting contributions from top to bottom.
McNeil hit seven home runs last year, a far cry from when he hit 23 in 2019. He got his first one out of the early this season, enjoying his second consecutive birthday bash.
When speaking to whether he’ll make it three years in a row next season, McNeil said with a chuckle, “We’ll see. I’ll hopefully do it again.”
