PHILADELPHIA — The Mets were never worried about Jeff McNeil.
The hits didn’t come for the best hitter in the NL in 2022 at the same prolific rate in 2023. The utility infielder/outfielder was fine in April, fine in May and then found himself marred in a dismal slump in June. He hit just .196 in the Mets’ worst month, so to be fair, it’s not like the rest of the team was lighting it up in June either.
The Mets did, however, worry that McNeil was beating himself up. The 31-year-old was coming off a career year and a batting title and signed a contract extension in January. It’s a lot of pressure for anyone but if anyone could handle it, it was McNeil, who is notoriously hard on himself.
But it serves a purpose: McNeil is too hard on himself to let himself fail. Now, in the final month of the season, he’s finally starting to look more like himself at the plate.
“I feel good and I’m seeing the ball well,” McNeil said. “The hits are starting to fall, which is always nice. I didn’t have the kind of year I really wanted to, especially in the middle of the season, so it’s nice to see the work I’ve put in be able to turn things around.”
He’s reached base in 14 straight games, and over 48 games since the start of August, McNeil is hitting .307 with 31 runs, nine doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 20 RBI, eight walks and five stolen bases. He owns a .923 OBP in the month of September with 10 extra-base hits.
“Jeff’s a good hitter,” said manager Buck Showalter. “It doesn’t surprise anybody.”
Thursday night in Philadelphia, he was a homer short of the cycle against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the kind of performance that became typical of him last season and he’s still unsure why it wasn’t typical for him earlier this season.
“I think I’m taking some better swings and hitting the ball where they’re not,” McNeil said. “That’s what needs to happen to have success.”
There was some speculation earlier this season that McNeil was a victim of the new shift restrictions. Hitting coach Jeremy Barnes told the Daily News at one point that there might have been some legs to that theory, but also didn’t fully give it credence. With the way McNeil hits to all fields in all situations, he figured he would get out of the slump by getting the ball somewhere else, much the way he did before the league placed restrictions on infielders. Even his teammates said that didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
There is a luck element as well. McNeil’s BaBIP is .290 this season, the second-lowest of his career. Only in 2021, his worst career season, did post a BaBIP under .300 (.280).
McNeil’s bat has a lot of value to the Mets, but his ability to defend at a high level at multiple positions might be equally as important moving forward given the emergence of rookies Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos. The Mets don’t have a left fielder penciled in for next season. While there has been some talk of having Vientos or even third baseman Brett Baty play in left field at some point, they haven’t heard anything recently and they haven’t taken any reps. McNeil provides the Mets some flexibility as they develop some key young players.
“He embraces it,” Showalter said. “Especially the things would separate him [defensively]. Not everybody can do that, and not everybody is willing to do it. Jeff would like to play a different position every night and that’s very valuable for me.”
Now that his luck seems to have turned, McNeil is hoping to end the season on a high note. He’s still the same hitter that beat out Freddie Freeman for the NL batting title last season and he’s still the same player that made two All-Star teams.
“It would mean a lot,” McNeil said. “I wasn’t feeling like myself. That’s not where I wanted to be. I’m happy I was able to turn it around, but it was a little late. I wanted to do it a little earlier and help this team get to the postseason.”