Back in 2022, you could make the argument that Jeff McNeil was the best contact hitter in all of baseball. He was coming off an NL batting title, where he hit .326. Not only was this good enough for the NL batting title, but he got several other awards like starting the All-Star game, winning the Silver Slugger, and even receiving some MVP votes. This also made the Mets consider him a major part of the future, causing them to extend him for four years worth 50 million.
However since McNeil signed that extension, he hasn’t been anywhere close to the player he was in 2022. His batting average dropped to .270 in 2023. A 56-point drop from the year before. It was also one of the worst .270 you’ve ever seen in your life. Most of his hits came in the most unclutch moments. The struggles have continued into 2024, which has made many Mets fans begin to turn on him. He’s already been written off the Mets’ core, and his popularity continues to plummet as he struggles. The smartest move for the Mets would be to move on from McNeil.
McNeil Metric Doesn’t Inspire Much Confidence
Now sure, every player is entitled to a down year. McNeil struggled in 2021 when he turned away from making contact and focused more on being a power hitter. That approach caused his numbers to take a massive hit. However, during those struggles, it was blatantly obvious what was wrong with McNeil. The struggles with McNeil this season have no clear answers.
The biggest problem is that pitchers have seemed to figure out how to pitch to McNeil. Keith Hernandez noticed on the broadcast the other night that pitchers are pitching him inside. This has seemed to be McNeil’s major weakness this season, as he swings right over every single one thrown to him. Now Hernandez has suggested some steps McNeil can take to fix this, but it’s unknown if those will even work.
When you look at McNeil’s Baseball Savant page, he is in the bottom percentile in all but two offensive categories. The ones he’s high in are Whiff% and K%. The two you want to be in the bottom in. The biggest concern is his barrel%, which is 0.8 this season. This means he only made solid contact in .8 percent of his at-bats this season. With numbers that low, it gives you no hope that he is going to turn things around.
Mets Have Better Option in the Minors
Now even though McNeil’s struggles are bad, they aren’t the biggest reason why the Mets should move on from them. That has more to do with who is behind McNeil in the minors. The Mets have a top-five farm system in all of baseball. One of the reasons for this good farm is the amount of middle infield prospects they have. In the Mets’ top 10 alone, they have four middle infield prospects.
Also, Luisangel Acuna, the Mets fifth best prospect, is knocking on the door of the majors. He might have struggled so far, however, he has seemed to be turning it around in the last ten games. He also has been playing outstanding defense the past few games. There is also the question of where Ronny Mauricio is going to play when he comes back next season from ACL surgery.
With the Mets essentially going nowhere this season, it’s more about development. They are trying to get the young players MLB-ready, so they can compete within the next couple of years. For that to be the case, the Mets have to make room on the major league roster for these prospects. The easiest way for that would be for the Mets to move on from struggling McNeil and let a young prospect take over.
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