What if Jeff McNeil was meant to do this?
What if Brodie Van Wagenen’s overagressiveness last winter actually will bring out McNeil’s best self?
Many rookie general managers would have seen what McNeil did last year as a rookie, playing virtually every day at second base and raking, and handed the young man the keystone job right then and there. Van Wagenen, as you know, acquired not only Robinson Cano but Jed Lowrie as well, turning McNeil into a jack of all trades.
And McNeil, to steal a line from “Seinfeld,” is … into it. So much so that, if you’re trying to put together next year’s puzzle, he’d rather you not peg him into one position.
“It keeps it fresh,” McNeil told The Post on Monday, before the Mets tried to keep their long-shot playoff hopes afloat with a game against the Marlins at Citi Field. “It’s something new every [day].”
McNeil started at second base on Monday, his 24th start there. He has started 43 times in left field, 39 in right field and 15 games at third base, and he brought a spectacular .317/.385/.534 slash line, with 23 homers, into the action. That slugging percentage in particular has jumped from the .471 he posted in his abbreviated rookie season.
“I’ve seen him since last year. We didn’t really see what we’re seeing this year,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who knows a little something about left-handed hitting proficiency. “I’m sure [the Mets] are happy, and they obviously have a lot to like.”
As McNeil pointed out of his bouncing around, “I did it in college [at Cal State Long Beach]. It’s something I’ve done before. I’m not going to let it change my offense in any way. It’s not going to affect that. So I’ve had a good year. So I’ve enjoyed it.”
He is, in short, pretty chill about the setup. “He’s chill about everything,” Mets hitting coach Chili Davis pointed out.
We haven’t quite arrived at the time to start thinking fully about next year, not with the Mets mathematically alive for a postseason berth. Nevertheless, no harm exists in contemplating that partially, and it’s rather obvious impending free agent Todd Frazier won’t return. Center fielder Juan Lagares stands as the other significant position player who will enter the open market.
Brandon Nimmo would therefore head the depth chart at center field until or unless further moves occur, and Michael Conforto has right field. And if Yoenis Cespedes ever gets back on the field, it’ll be next year, his free-agent season.
That leaves McNeil, J.D. Davis, Lowrie and Dom Smith as versatility guys, Smith being forced into that as a consequence of Pete Alonso’s surge at first base. At first blush, you could see the Mets slotting McNeil at the hot corner, where he has played solid defense, and silencing the questions about free agent third baseman Anthony Rendon of the Nationals.
“He could start at third for a lot of teams, second for a lot of teams, outfield for a lot of teams,” Chili Davis said of McNeil.
The low-key McNeil probably wouldn’t complain if the Mets opted to go in such a direction. Yet he made clear he’d be perfectly happy maintaining the status quo and following the trail blazed by super-utility man Ben Zobrist, whom Chili Davis coached last year while with the Cubs.
“I didn’t really model myself after everyone,” McNeil said, “but I know big-time utility [guys], he was really the first one to kind of do it,” McNeil said of Zobrist. “You look at his career, he’s been unbelievable. If I can do something like that, it’d be good.”
As long as the Mets make sure they have sufficient coverage around the diamond, increasing their payroll if necessary, it could be quite good for them, too. It could be like they planned it all along.
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The post Mets’ Jeff McNeil doesn’t see reason to change perfect role appeared first on Fox USA Live.
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