Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff McNeil, like a good portion of the Mets hitters, had a forgettable 2021 season. After being an NL All-Star in 2019, and continuing that success into the shortened 2020 season, “Squirrel” was unable to find any sort of groove in 2021.

He ultimately finished with a slash line of .251/.319/360, and an OPS+ of 88, all of which fell well below his career averages. Perhaps the biggest downfall was McNeil’s lack of power, as his seven home runs were way down from the 23 that he hit in only 13 more games in 2019.

Fortunately for the Mets, it looks like the 2021 McNeil could be a thing of the past. Although it has only been 63 plate appearances, there is a noticeable change in approach from last year, which has led to great results.

The 30-year-old utility man has put together a “vintage” McNeil slash line of .316/.381/.474, with an OPS+ of 156, better than the 143 OPS+ he finished with during his All-Star season. McNeil has also only struck out seven times in those 63 plate appearances, good enough to put him in the 96th percentile in K% in the entire league.

McNeil played a massive role in the ninth inning heroics against the Cardinals yesterday. After the fielding blunder by the typically errorless Nolan Arenado, McNeil stepped up with Travis Jankowski on first, two outs, and the Mets trailing 2-1.

He ripped an 0-1 pitch off Giovanny Gallegos into right field for a double, leaving the Mets with runners on second and third. He was then able to turn on the jets, make an incredibly heads-up play and score the GW run on the hustle infield single by Dominic Smith. McNeil stated after the game that he knew that he was going to attempt to score once he saw the play developing.

“Kind of right away (I knew I was going to score),” McNeil said. “Soon as Dom hit the ball I saw (Paul) Goldschmidt make a great play and I saw the pitcher not get off the mound as well. I knew it was going to be close at first base and as soon as I hit third (base) I turned my head in. I saw the guy step on base and Dom be safe. Knew right then it was time to go and I ended up scoring.”

“I was going 100%,” McNeil added. “I didn’t look at (Joey) Cora at all.”

As with the Mets as a whole, McNeil is off to a scorching start, bouncing right back from the struggles that haunted him for the majority of 2021. The early indication is McNeil is back to his old self, a major contributor and all-field hitter on offense while providing versatility on defense.

In the last week, McNeil has gone 7-for-25 with five extra-base hits (four doubles, one triple). He’s primarily batted out of the eighth spot in the lineup, showing how deep the Mets lineup goes. In the nine games he’s batted there, McNeil has an OPS over 1.000.

On Monday, McNeil batted in the eight-spot again. Robinson Cano, who’s slashed .184/.225/.263 in 40 plate appearances, batted sixth. The Mets alternate their righties and lefties as much as they can. With the way McNeil has played thus far, he’s deserving of more at-bats in a more prominent spot in the lineup.