John Flanigan/MMO
Friday morning was relatively quiet on the backfields at Port St. Lucie with the Mets hitting the road for their matchup with the Tigers at Joker Merchant Stadium. However, some of the players who didn’t travel hung around and put on a show in batting practice.
One of them was Mets 26-year old utility man Jeff McNeil. On Thursday afternoon, McNeil was scratched from the lineup after scraping his left wrist diving for a ball. According to reports, he is expected to return to the lineup this afternoon at First Data Field.
Last season, McNeil had a breakout year at both the minor league and big league levels. Over 63 games in his rookie year with the Mets, McNeil hit .329/.381/.471 with 11 doubles, three home runs, and 19 RBI. He also scored 35 runs, and posted a 137 wRC+ and 2.7 WAR.
John Flanigan/MMO
Mets top prospect, first baseman Pete Alonso, has gotten off to a strong start this spring. Through five games, he has one home run, one double, four RBI’s, and a 1.250 OPS. He has certainly been making an extremely strong case for making the Opening Day roster.
Alonso showed off his light-tower power hitting some long home runs in BP. Last season he played for both Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas, and he led the minors with 36 home runs.
On top of putting on a show during BP, Alonso gave back to the Mets fans who stuck around during what was a rather slow day of Mets workouts. After taking his hacks, the rookie not only thanked the fans for coming out but he also took pictures with and signed for every fan that stuck around, nicely done Pete!
John Flanigan/MMO
Lastly, and possibly most interesting in the trio, was infielder Dilson Herrera. The Mets re-signed the 25-year old to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp earlier this offseason.
Of course, Mets fans will remember the team traded him to the Cincinnati Reds back in 2016 in exchange for Jay Bruce. The former Top 100 prospect never really panned out with the Reds, and last season in 97 big league at-bats he hit just just .184/.268/.414 with five doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI.
Herrera struggled with his fair share of injuries over the past couple of season. Though he seems destined for Triple-A Syracuse, the infielder certainly adds to the Mets depth this season. The kid has a pretty swing and certainly has some upside, hopefully a return to the Big Apple could spark him to show his true potential.
Oh, and I got to meet the big man!
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