Jeff McNeil

Jeffrey Todd McNeil

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School California State University, Long Beach
• High School Nipomo High School
• Debut July 24, 2018

• Born April 8, 1992 in Santa Barbara, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jeff McNeil made his major league debut with the New York Mets at the end of July in 2018. He played regularly at second base down the stretch and had a great month of September when he collected 36 hits, matching the team record for rookies set by Gregg Jefferies in 1989. He finished the year at .329 with 3 homers and 19 RBIs, making him one of the few bright spots on the team outside of the starting pitching. He then proved that his excellent second half in 2018 was no fluke when he followed it up with an equally good first half in 2019, earning him a selection to play in the 2019 All-Star Game.

In 2022, he won the Tony Gwynn Award as the batting champion in the National League, finishing the year at .326, just one point ahead of Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The title was still up in the air until the final day of the season, October 5th, when he sat out the game until appearing as a late-inning defensive replacement, while Freeman went 3 for 4 (he would have finished ahead of Jeff with a perfect 4-for-4 day). His average actually led all of the major leagues, as Luis Arraez won the American League batting crown with a .316 average. It was an overall very successful season for McNeil as he returned to the All-Star Game for the second time, and was a key contributor as the Mets won 101 games and only lost out on a division title because they lost their season series with the Atlanta Braves, who finished with the same record, 10 games to 9. His OPS+ was 140 and his 174 hits included 39 doubles and 9 homers. He scored 73 runs and drove in 62. In his postseason debut, he went 2 for 11 with a double and 2 RBIs as the Mets were upset by the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series.

The 2022 season clearly represented a high-water mark for Jeff. He fell back considerably in 2023 when he batted .270 in 156 games, with 10 homers and 55 RBIs. Given how much his batting average represented as a percentage of his total value, he was actually a below-average hitter that season, with his OPS+ falling from 140 to 97. The free-fall in batting average continued in 2024, as it was at .238 after 129 games, to go with an OBP of .308. Yet he managed to maintain an OPS+ at 97 because his power increased, with 26 doubles and 12 homers, a few more of each than the previous season but in 150 fewer at-bats. He was not one of the better hitters on the team, but still it was considered a significant loss when his season ended prematurely on September 6th when he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch from Brandon Williamson of the Cincinnati Reds, causing a fracture. He was expected to miss four to six weeks, meaning his season was over unless the Mets went deep into the postseason.

He was a 12th-round selection by the Mets in the 2013 amateur draft.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time NL All-Star (2019 & 2022)
• NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2022)
• NL Batting Average Leader (2022)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2019)

Further Reading

• Ronald Blum (Associated Press); "Arraez, McNeil win batting titles, Judge misses Triple Crown", Yahoo! News, October 5, 2022. [1]
• Michael Clair: "Speaking with Belgium's biggest Jeff McNeil fans", mlb.com, June 11, 2024. [2]
• Mike Petriello: "Why there’s no defense that can stop this Met", mlb.com, January 13, 2023. [3]
• Matthew Ritchie: "McNeil has wrist fracture, will miss rest of regular season", mlb.com, September 7, 2024. [4]

Related Sites

• Jeff McNeil on mlb.com