NEW YORK -- When Jeff McNeil won the Major League batting title in 2022, it was the signature achievement of a sterling career to that point. There is no world in which he would ever wish to take that back.
Yet buried deep within that accomplishment were the seeds of issues that would come to define McNeil in subsequent seasons. So adept at putting the ball in play, McNeil began to focus on that ability rather than striking the ball with authority. He began to swing more frequently at pitcher’s pitches, “searching for hits,” instead of waiting for fastballs to drive. He ignored the fact that the game of baseball had increasingly come to devalue batting average -- the very skill upon which he had built the bedrock of his career.
More than a year and a half later, with his average hovering low in the .200s, McNeil finally recognized that something needed to change. He altered his plate approach with an eye toward increasing his power, even if that came at the expense of his batting average.
In doing so, McNeil leveled up.
His walk-off single in the 10th inning Tuesday not only led the Mets to a come-from-behind, 5-4 win over the Nationals at Citi Field, but it also continued to vindicate his revamped approach. Through 36 games, McNeil sports an .891 OPS, his highest mark since 2019. Over his last 11 games, he’s been even better, with a .341/.378/.707 slash line. He’s swinging harder, resulting in higher average bat speed, and those hard-hit balls are beginning to fall more often.
“You just want to be who you are,” McNeil said. “I feel like this is kind of who I am, and I’m going to stick with it.”
That McNeil was even in Tuesday’s lineup was a testament to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza’s growing confidence in him. As recently as Sunday, Mendoza indicated that he wanted to give rookie Luisangel Acuña a rare start in the infield. The presence of a left-handed starter, MacKenzie Gore, seemed like the right opportunity. But when Tuesday arrived, Mendoza wrote McNeil’s name on his card instead, understanding the value of keeping a hot bat in the lineup.
Immediately, McNeil justified that decision with an RBI single in his first at-bat. He produced hard contact in his next two plate appearances, both flyouts, while New York’s offense mostly sputtered around him. But Juan Soto homered in the third inning to give the Mets life, then Soto and Pete Alonso contributed consecutive RBI hits in the eighth to tie things. Following a scoreless ninth inning and a fruitless top of the 10th, McNeil led off the bottom of that inning with a chance to end things.
As if to prove that he’s still the same old Jeff, McNeil swung at the first pitch he saw from reliever Cole Henry. But this was a fastball ripe for hitting, 94 mph right down the middle. McNeil hooked it into right field to score Acuña easily from second.
“I was just looking for anything I could hit to the right side,” McNeil said, knowing even a groundout or flyout would advance the runner. “I feel like they were trying to go maybe hard away, so I was kind of cheating for something out there.”
These days, the Mets aren’t exactly hurting for offensive weapons. Soto, after a middling first two months as a Met, is rounding into form. Alonso is white-hot again. Francisco Lindor is hitting like he doesn’t have a broken toe.
But if McNeil can maintain his recent production, it would lengthen the lineup to a dangerous extent. It could also give the Mets a bit of clarity regarding their infield, which to date has featured a rotating cast of Acuña, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio. Although McNeil has not hurt for playing time, that’s largely been because of his defensive versatility. He no longer owns second base the way he used to.
Still, Mendoza has consistently demonstrated that he runs a meritocracy. When Baty was hot, he found his way into the lineup most evenings, even against left-handers. The same was true for Acuña, Vientos and, in recent days, Mauricio.
Now McNeil, the second-longest tenured Met, has a chance to reestablish himself as a core member of this offense.
“A really good player and a good hitter,” was how Mendoza described him. “When he’s going that way, it’s a really good hitter.”