Even after the Mets held him in the minors longer than necessary earlier this year, it’s safe to say rookie second baseman Jeff McNeil has all but locked up the 2019 second base job.
Postgame Sunday, it seemed as though Mets manager Mickey Callaway is leaning towards that notion as well.
“He gets on base, he puts the barrel on the ball. I’ve seen enough to know that he’s going to be tough to pitch to next year,” Callaway said on McNeil.
Entering Sunday, McNeil had a .328 batting average and is tied for eleventh with 64 hits since making his debut on July 24. In the two months he’s been with the Mets, he has not only been the teams best hitter, but also one of the hottest hitters in baseball.
“It’s awesome to come up here and have instant success. I’m 200 at-bats in and still hitting well. It gives me a lot of confidence going into next year,” McNeil told reporters.
The rookie’s performance on Sunday afternoon told the same story, and certainly increased his confidence even more. In the Mets 8-6 win over the Nationals, McNeil reached base in five of his six plate appearances, going 4-for-5 with a walk and an RBI single.
“I’m just going up there and getting good pitches to hit and swinging at strikes,” McNeil said.
With his multi-hit performance, McNeil made a bit of Mets history on Sunday. By recording three hits, he now has eight three-hit games after the All-Star break, which broke David Wright’s previous record of seven.
McNeil also now has four hits for the third time in his first 57 big league games. That is the most four hit performances by a Mets player in their first 57 games. Both Wright and Rey Ordonez had just two four hit games in that same span.
McNeil’s old school approach at the plate brings a new, much needed element to the Mets lineup. He’s a slap-hitting table setter who puts the ball in play often and doesn’t strike out much.
Pitchers have begun to make adjustments to McNeil, but his continued success shows you he really is the real deal. With his emergence at second, the Mets can now look to focus their budget this offseason towards bigger needs, such as the bullpen.
