Jeff McNeil Becomes First Met to Lead Majors in Hitting

For just the second time in franchise history, the National League batting champion will be a New York Met. Jeff McNeil finished 2022 with a .326 average, narrowly topping Freddie Freeman to finish the 2022 season with the best batting average in MLB.

McNeil struggled in 2021, hitting just .251 over 140 games after hitting .319 in his first three years in the majors. This season, he returned to form and set a new career high with his .326 average.

After hitting over .300 in April, May, and June, McNeil hit just .208 in July, dropping his average from .319 to .294. The poor month looked like it would take McNeil out of the batting race with Freeman sitting at .325 to start August, but he responded with his best two months of the year in August and September/October. He hit .385 in August to bring his average up to .318 and get back in the hunt for the batting crown. In September/October, he hit .357 to take the lead.

Freeman entered Wednesday needing to go 4-for-4 to overtake McNeil, who did not play in the Mets’ final game. Despite getting hits in his first two at-bats, Freeman finished 3-for-4 to clinch the batting title for the Mets’ All-Star second baseman.

McNeil joins José Reyes as the only two Mets to win a batting title. Reyes hit .337 in 2011 to lead the National League. McNeil does however become the first Met to lead MLB in batting average.

McNeil finished with the sixth-highest batting average in Mets history. John Olerud has the record, hitting .354 in 1998, but he finished second to Larry Walker of the Rockies who hit .363 that season.

“It’s the only award I can look forward to,” McNeil said following Tuesday’s game. “I’m never going to lead the majors in home runs.”