The last days of Jeff McNeil...
The Mets lose after a blow-up start by Tylor Megill. Plus, how we may be in the final days of the Jeff McNeil era.
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets got blown out by the Cubs on Saturday afternoon, losing by an 8-1 score (box)
RHP Tylor Megill was blown up for six runs in the first inning, putting the team in a hole too big enough to dig themselves out of
C Francisco Álvarez continued his hot hitting since returning from the IL, going 2-for-3 with a home run (3), double and walk in the loss
2B Jeff McNeil went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, lowering his season OPS to .582
LHP Danny Young returned to the club and pitched 1.1 perfect innings in relief
RF Starling Marte exited the game in the second inning with a sore knee
Despite being in Wild Card contention, the Mets could still consider trading away one of their starting pitchers at the trade deadline with Kodai Senga, Christian Scott and José Buttó expected to return (NY Post)
Injury Updates 🏥
RF Starling Marte exited Saturday’s game with a sore right knee that has been a nagging injury for nearly three weeks – the club could consider placing him on the IL to allow him to rest it
RHP Sean Reid-Foley was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder impingement – he is expected to return after missing the minimum amount of time
Roster Moves 🗞️
LHP Danny Young was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Sean Reid-Foley was placed on the 15-day injured list
Who’s Hot 🔥
C Francisco Álvarez has been red-hot since coming off the IL, going 10-for-19 (.526) with two home runs and six RBIs in his last five games
Down on the Farm 🌾
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 4 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI
RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (Double-A): IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (36-39) at Cubs (37-40)
Where: Wrigley Field — Chicago, IL
Starters: RHP Luis Severino (4-2, 3.52 ERA) vs. RHP Javier Assad (4-2, 2.75 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: ESPN
We’ve reached the end for Jeff McNeil ✍️
Things look as if they’ve just about reached their end point for Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets.
After yet another 0-for in Saturday afternoon’s lopsided loss to the Cubs, the Mets second baseman’s batting stats continued to careen into the darkness. Entering today, McNeil is now hitting .215 this season with a .582 OPS – the fourth lowest OPS in all of baseball among qualified hitters.
It’s incredible to think that only two seasons ago, during the club’s 101-win campaign in 2022, that McNeil won the National League batting title. The organization believed in him so much following that season that they signed him to a four-year, $50 million extension which, at the time, looked like an absolute steal. These days, though, the left-handed hitter doesn’t remotely resemble the player that Mets fans had become accustomed to watching over the first four years of his career.
There’s probably a myriad of factors as to why McNeil has struggled so much over these last two seasons, but there is perhaps no greater culprit than the elimination of the shift in Major League Baseball. Following the 2022 season, MLB owners voted to essentially “ban” the shift from the sport in a controversial effort to increase offense after the majority of hitters in the game were either unwilling or incapable of adjusting as the use of the shift increased over the past decade.
McNeil, however, was one of the few hitters in the sport that actually benefitted from the shift. In each of the first four seasons of his career, McNeil had a higher BABIP (batting average on balls in play) against the shift than he did when there was no shift being played. The 2022 season saw the biggest discrepancy of his career in that regard, as the middle infielder had a .408 BABIP against the shift and a .337 BABIP when it was not being employed.
Now, in the two seasons since the shift has been banned, McNeil has a .275 BABIP – worse than any other season of his entire career. Since the start of 2023 that ranks as the 21st lowest BABIP in all of baseball, and it’s important to note that of those 21 batters McNeil has the third worst slugging percentage (sluggers such as Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber often have lower BABIPs because of home runs and strikeouts, so the slugging percentage is notable within these ranks).
So while he was one of the few batters in the league that was regularly able to exploit the shift from 2018-22, McNeil has also been one of the few to actually suffer from it’s elimination. And seeing as how there’s virtually no chance that the league will reverse this rule change any time soon, there is no indication that things are going to get better for McNeil, either.
Over the last two seasons, the Mets have given their slap-hitting second baseman an extended runaway and a lot of chances to turn things around and, regardless of the reasons behind it, things have only been getting worse.
McNeil is hitting .154/.185/.173 with one extra-base hit (no home runs), one RBI and a .358 OPS over his last 16 games played dating back to May 28th. In that timespan, he has been benched for José Iglesias —who wasn’t even on the major league roster until May 31st — eight times. Since his contract was selected by the club, Iglesias is hitting .438/.486/.500 with two extra-base hits, six RBI, a stolen base, five runs scored and a .986 OPS in 12 games.
And while McNeil has seen himself losing significant playing time to Iglesias, mostly against left-handed pitching, there are also several players looming in the minor leagues who could be ready to all-but end McNeil’s days with the franchise, at least in any sort of regular playing capacity.
Luisangel Acuña, the club’s 5th-ranked prospect, is likely the furthest away of any of these options having struggled for a majority of his first Triple-A season, but he has been much hotter at the plate in recent weeks. Over his last 36 games played, Acuña is hitting .301/.357/.399 with two home runs, seven doubles, a triple, 14 RBI, 15 stolen bases, 32 runs scored and a .759 OPS. If not now, the club will look to Acuña in the near-future in the hopes of him becoming a potential everyday player at second base and the outfield.
Brett Baty, who struggled in his role as the everyday third baseman in the majors this season, has also been getting some reps at second base in Triple-A recently. Since being optioned to the minors, the young left-hander is hitting .367/.407/.755 with five home runs, four doubles, 16 RBI, nine runs scored and a 1.163 OPS in 12 games. If we can get more reps at the position — he’s only made two starts so far — and continue swinging a hot bat, it is possible that he could eventually take away McNeil’s at-bats against right-handed pitching at some point.
The final and potentially most intriguing option is Luke Ritter. Much like McNeil himself, Ritter has been an older, under-the-radar player who has found themselves in recent seasons in the minor leagues for the Mets. This season has been the most impressive of Ritter’s minor league career as the 27-year-old right-hander is hitting .262./365/.528 with 16 home runs, 14 doubles, 53 RBI, 41 runs scored and an .893 OPS in 65 games at Triple-A Syracuse. Ritter has only played in 10 games at second base this season, but largely because of the presence of Acuña. The right-hander has started 202 games at second base in his minor league career.
The former 7th round draft pick has also shown a ton of versatility in Syracuse this season, starting games at first, second and third base, and left field in addition to getting limited time as the team’s designated hitter. If Ritter continues to keep this up, he could become a viable option for the club to start in spots that McNeil normally would have, perhaps even against right-handed pitching.
If we’re being entirely honest, McNeil has been fortunate that a lot of things didn’t pan out in the Mets minor league system earlier this year. Acuña really struggled early on this season to the point where he’s only recently been able to start working his way up, Ronny Mauricio tore his ACL during the offseason and is out for the entire year, and even players further away like Jett Williams both struggled and got injured, giving the Mets no real options of replacing McNeil at any earlier point this season.
But as McNeil has continued to struggle mightily, Iglesias has provided the club with an unexpected spark and players such as Acuña, Ritter and Baty (once again) appear to be emerging in Triple-A, time seems to have all-but finally run out for this once-great home grown story.
Life comes at you fast and in baseball, that seems to be the case twice as quick. One day you’re winning batting titles and signing extensions, and the next you’re looking over your shoulder as journeyman veterans and unproven minor leaguers charge up the rear to take your job.
It may not happen today or even tomorrow but the clock is ticking on Jeff McNeil in New York, and time is almost up.
Stats from Mike Petriello, Fangraphs & Baseball Savant
Around the League 🚩
Yankees OF Aaron Judge hit his league-leading 28th home run of the season as the club ended their losing skid with an 8-3 win vs the Braves
Rangers LF Wyatt Langford crushed a first inning grand slam in the team’s 6-0 win against the Royals
Former Mets RHP Max Scherzer is expected to make his season debut for the Rangers later this afternoon after starting the year on the injured list
The Phillies and LHP Christian Sánchez agreed to a four-year contract extension with club options for 2029 and 2030, and the team blew-out the Dbacks for a 12-1 victory
Sometimes guys play better in the majors than minors. I’d like to see Acuna. That speed is something we could use. I really doubt Baty can play 2nd in MLB plus he would need to hit and worrying about playing a new position won’t help him focus on hitting.
Given his contract and performance over the past season and a half, he has zero trade value. I know he's out of options, but it might be worth McNeil's while to accept an assignment to Syracuse for a couple of weeks to get straightened out. I recall Steve Trachsel voluntarily going down to AAA after a disastrous first half for the Mets in 2001.