Jeff McNeil’s 2023 Season is Over

The New York Mets on Thursday announced that they have placed infielder Jeff McNeil on the 10-day injured list with a left elbow sprain. Infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from Tirple-A Syracuse as the corresponding roster transaction.

McNeil spoke with the media following the announcement and said an MRI showed a partial tear of his left UCL. He said he is scheduled to get a PRP injection on Friday and that he does not think surgery will be needed. However, heading to the injured list ends his 2023 season.

McNeil in 2023 batted .270/.333/.378, with a .711 OPS. He had 158 hits, 25 doubles, four triples, and 10 home runs. He drove in 55 RBIs and had 75 runs scored with 10 stolen bases over the course of 156 games played this season. He also had a 2.5 fWAR.

Defensively, McNeil played 107 games at second base, 41 games in right field, 32 in left field, and three games in center field, and also made his way around the infield with one game at shortstop and one game at first base this season.

Mendick was batting .282/.369/.424, with a .793 OPS, before being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. At the major league level this season, he has batted .190/.227/.286, with a .513 OPS over 34 games.

The Mets also announced a couple of transactions on the pitching side of the roster on Thursday as well. They announced that they optioned left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi to Triple-A Syracuse and correspondingly recalled right-handed pitcher Denyi Reyes to New York from Syracuse.

Lucchesi started for the Mets on Wednesday night after he and his family were in a car accident on Tuesday night. After waking up with some ‘back soreness’ as he described, Lucchesi still came out and pitched six innings on Wednesday and was credited with a win as well.

Over the course of the 2023 season, Lucchesi is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA. He has appeared in nine games and thrown a total of 46 2/3 innings. He has given up 15 earned runs on 44 hits and 17 walks. He has struck out 32 in 2023 and has a WHIP of 1.31.

Back in Triple-A Syracuse, Reyes was 2-3 with a 5.79 ERA. He has given up 59 earned runs on 97 hits in 20 appearances (18 starts). Over the course of 91 2/3 innings pitched with Syracuse, Reyes walked 33 and struck out 72. He has a WHIP of 1.42.

Reyes has appeared in eight games with New York (three starts). He is 0-2 during that time with a 6.23 ERA.