MLB Network continued their “Top 10 Right Now” series on Sunday with the second base installment, and Jeff McNeil took home No. 2 honors, behind only DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees.
The Top 10 shakes out like this:
- DJ LeMahieu
- Jeff McNeil
- Ketel Marte
- Brandon Lowe
- Cavan Biggio
- Jake Cronenworth
- Donovan Solano
- Chris Taylor
- Jose Altuve
- Ozzie Albies
McNeil, 28, has a clear path to play second base this season after Robinson Cano‘s season long suspension, barring any external moves.
The three-year MLB veteran has bounced around the diamond during his tenure with the Mets, playing mostly second and left field with some third base and right field mixed in as well.
In the shortened 2020 season, McNeil was worth 1.2 fWAR, owned a triple slash of .311/.383/.501 and had four long balls to go along with a 130 wRC+ and .360 wOBA.
In the field, McNeil played just 68.2 innings at the keystone, and had -2 defensive runs saved (DRS) and a -0.1 ultimate zone range (UZR). The California native actually spent most of his time in left field where he had 2 DRS and a 1.1 UZR.
In 774.0 innings at second in his career, McNeil has 1 DRS and a 0.5 UZR.
McNeil’s best season came in 2019, where he was worth 4.5 fWAR for the Mets, had a triple slash of .318/.384/.531 with 23 long balls and appeared in his first career All-Star Game.
McNeil was ranked as the No. 5 third baseman in baseball by MLB Network in 2020.
The Mets have had several other players appear on MLB Network’s Top 10 Right Now, with Jacob deGrom ranked as the No. 1 starting pitcher, Pete Alonso as the No. 7 first baseman, Dominic Smith as the No. 6 left fielder, Brandon Nimmo as the No. 5 center fielder and James McCann as the No. 10 catcher.
MLB Network will reveal their Top 10 shortstops on Tuesday Feb. 2 and right fielders on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
