Photo By Logan Barer/MMO

New York Mets prospect Jeff McNeil is in the middle of a breakout offensive season which earned him a recent promotion to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s and only one step away from making his likely big league debut this year.

McNeil, 26, is hitting .336/.405/.606 with 22 doubles, three triples and a career-high 14 homers between the Double-A Binghamton Rumbles Ponies (57 games) and the 51s (11 games) this season. He also has five stolen bases without being caught once.

What makes his power numbers even more impressive is that he’s striking out only 11% of the time (32 K’s in 259 at-bats).

The once skinny left-handed hitter started showing off more power in 2016 when he popped a homer in his first game of the season only to see it come to an end after three games due to double sports hernia and a tear in his hip labrum.

McNeil’s 2017 season would get a late April start, but yet again he blasted a home run in his first game. He would post an impressive .864 OPS for St. Lucie before getting promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas in August. He struggled in his first taste of AAA baseball with a .661 OPS in 18 games.

Now to 2018 for a healthy and strong McNeil ready to break out, and that he has. I recently talked to a NL scout that called his defense at second base “very playable.” McNeil has played all over the field in his minor league career having played every spot except pitcher and catcher. This season he has focused mostly at second base with 58 of 70 games there. Also has nine at third base and three at shortstop.

While his added muscle has limited some of his quickness, the scout still thinks he can play an adequate major league second base defensively. Which isn’t a universal thought, I’ve talked to a few other scouts that see defense at second as his biggest hindrance right now.

The same NL scout I talked to about defense called McNeil a “starter with a bench floor.” Certainly high praise for a guy that you won’t see on any prospect list. He has been one of the best offensive players in the entire minor leagues though with a 175 wRC+ that ranks eighth (two spots ahead of teammate Peter Alonso).

Asdrubal Cabrera is a free agent after the season leaving an open spot at second base next year. I would like to see the Mets trade Cabrera sooner rather than later to give McNeil regular major league at-bats.

McNeil is not currently on the 40-man roster (he would need to be added this offseason to be protected from Rule 5 draft anyway) though the Mets will certainly have a few open spots once they start selling and have multiple guys on it right now that don’t deserve to be.