The Mets could potentially get a big boost to their lineup if they advance to the NLCS. Manager Carlos Mendoza revealed to reporters (including Tim Britton of The Athletic) that Jeff McNeil will join the team’s taxi squad today, two days after welcoming his second child. The second baseman/corner outfielder has not played since September 6, when he fractured his right wrist as he pulled back a bunt attempt on a high-and-inside curveball from Reds’ left-hander Brandon Williamson. It’s possible McNeil will be ramped up and ready to play in time for the NLCS, should the Mets win two more games against the Phillies in the NLDS. However, Mendoza made it clear that it’s too soon to offer a definitive timeline for McNeil’s return.
McNeil, 32, got off to a dismal start over the first three months of the 2024 campaign. Then, he turned a corner in July, hitting eight home runs and 15 doubles with an .859 OPS and 140 wRC+ over his final 55 games. The veteran looked much more like the version of himself that won a Silver Slugger and a batting title in 2022. Even if he can’t get back to quite that level of performance, his lefty bat should be a valuable addition to a righty-heavy Mets lineup; he could take over from Jose Iglesias at second base or Starling Marte in right field with a right-handed starting pitcher on the mound.
Speaking of Marte, the 35-year-old outfielder took a Zack Wheeler fastball off his left forearm yesterday. As Britton pointed out, the pitch hit Marte in almost the exact same spot where Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman plunked him with a sinker three weeks earlier. Marte remained in the game yesterday, running the bases and taking a couple more at-bats, but he was removed in the bottom of the eighth amid a flurry of late-game defensive switches and substitutions. There’s no reason to believe he’s nursing anything more than a minor contusion, but it’s possible he could use a day to rest. After Hoffman beaned him in September, Marte took the next game off. He started the game after that on the bench before entering as a pinch hitter.
More notes from the NL postseason teams…
- Tommy Edman started in center field for the Dodgers last night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. His most interesting at-bat, however, was the double play he grounded into with runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth. Facing the right-handed Jeremiah Estrada, the switch-hitting Edman chose to hit from the right side (h/t to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It was the first time all season Edman attempted to bat right-handed against a right-handed pitcher. To that point, he batted as a lefty against the other two right-handers he faced last night: Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing. It was an unconventional, but not entirely unreasonable, choice for Edman, who hit .181 with a .523 OPS and 51 wRC+ in 117 plate appearances as a lefty batter this season. Conversely, he went 14-for-34 (.412) with four home runs, a 1.299 OPS, and a 250 wRC+ in a tiny sample size of plate appearances as a righty. Indeed, Edman has hit better as a righty in every season of his career. However, when he tried batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers on occasion last season, the results were poor. He produced a .665 OPS and 77 wRC+ in 61 trips to the plate. Even worse, he went 0-for-4 batting righty against righties over two games in 2021. It will be worth watching to see if Edman continues this experiment against Estrada or any of the Padres’ other right-handers.
- Nursing a sprained right ankle, Freddie Freeman’s status was questionable heading into the NLDS. Yet, the Dodgers first baseman played all nine innings of Game 1, going 2-for-5 at the dish. He also stole a base. Later on, Freeman revealed to reporters (including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic) that he is also dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. He says the bruise started to bother home around the fourth inning last night. Nevertheless, the famously durable superstar believes he can do it all again today – with the help of the Dodgers training staff. After the game, manager Dave Roberts joked that Freeman was “certainly medicated” (per Rosenthal), while Freeman expressed his gratitude to the training staff for getting him game-ready despite his significant injuries.
I guess when Cohen said the Mets would be “competitive”, he really meant they would steamroll over the betting favorites. It’s a a good year to be an underdog.
He *is* self-made and runs a hedge fund specializing in exploiting Wall Street after all.
the team with the largest payroll in mlb from the highest profile and largest media market in the world is considered an underdog after beating the team from wisconsin, what a time to be alive.
almost right … they are highest by AAV for CBT but actual payroll would be the dodgers as the AAV lowers the payroll amount you are most likely looking at. Ohtani especially by about 30M and lowers freeman and betts roughly 5M a piece i believe plus others ( i think hernandez and smith fall into this bucket as well ).
And yes underdog, as they were basically consensus supposed to be in the dregs before the season and about 1/5 to 1/4 of the way through the season thats what they were. But everything went their way after that time frame leading to one heck of a run to get them to where they are. i had them pegged at best 80 games won and im a huge mets fan.
YBC: How exactly does he “exploit” Wall Street?
You don’t seem to know what you’re talking about.
I guess by “exploit” he means “making money”, even though that’s what we’re all trying to do. This is a capitalistic country after all.
–This is a capitalistic country after all.–
Amazing the amount of people who don’t get that mlbfan. They think $$ grows on trees, or the govt can just print it out faster, with -0- repercussions.
Money grows on trees when supporting Foreign wars & Foreign Nationals! But, it doesn’t grow on trees when our Citizens need it!
That’s enough of you Baron. The next time you think of posting, white it out with crayon and stick in on your refrigerator
Blue: I have no interest in being pedantic and debating semantics.
@YBC His exploitation of MLB wasn’t that special last season!
Buy high, sell low!
He actually picked up a fair return on dumping aging pitchers. Time will tell on the return from the prospects aquired (Acuna, Clifford, Gilbert)
Picking up salary to get better prospects is smart and not selling low.
Agreed. He wasn’t stuck in sunk cost fallacy and acted quickly.
YBC: You also obviously have no interest in supporting your accusations with, you know, facts.
@YBC – appreciate he wanted to make a splash upon landing, but ageing, expensive pitching is high risk at best. Think they’ve balanced more sensibly this year. He (Cohen) doesn’t seem to be as vocal
Just my theory… Cohen was vying for a new casino license near the Citifield site. Creating (economic) buzz would help him gain brownie points with the local politicians. That’s been struck down for him earlier this year.
McNeil would be a nice addition.
Brasier!!! Brasier!!! Brasier!!! ( 70’s classic tune more/more/more!!!) way to go my friend!!!
let’s not forget Vesia, Phillips, Kopech, Treinen who combined with Brasier for 6 shutout innings. 108 BP pitches is a lot and could impact future games, but the game 1 win is huge.
So true but my man Brasier stopped the bleeding and set the tone.. congrats to you..
My impression on the Edmon AB is that it was situational and he was trying to hit behind the runner on 1B. The next time he came up against a RHP he battled from the left side. I suspect these calls came from the dugout not the player.
Edman chose to bat right against right handed pitchers several times his last year in St Louis. In St. Louis it depended on how pronounced the splits were for the pitcher. Either way, it’s nothing new for him
“He says the bruise started to bother home around the fourth inning last night”
It bothered his home? Bruises can fly, baby!
Get it that’s a joke letit, but Marte, like too many of today’s players has himself to blame for getting hit. He “jumped” towards the plate and half swung, before the pitch was there, like a lot of today’s players do. Derek jeter really started that crap. My thoughts have always been HP belongs to the pitcher.. Infringe upon it and ur liable to get hit and players shouldn’t be diving over HP before the ball gets to the plate, but a LOT of today’s players do just that.
It used to be an auto knock down to do that and not saying return to the old bruce “Buster” kison days of throw 1 at the guy, but near the waist, inside might stop the bad habit many hitter’s have now days.
Would you mind going to mlb and checking the pitch location on that one?
You said he “jumped” towards the plate, but the location I’m seeing shows the pitch quite a bit up and in, and in fact “hitting” the overlay of the batter.
Maybe I’m wrong though.
What does it look like when you look it up?
Ball was a bit in, won’t argue that 1 this time. he was jumping towards home plate well before the ball was close. This time may not have been the perfect time for myself to make that point, but it happens often enough. It’s probably to cover the outside of the plate and still be at the back of the box initially, but jumping towards HP isn’t any way to do it always thought. It leaves the batter extremely vulnerable to what happened to Marte.
“After the game, manager Dave Roberts joked that Freeman was “certainly medicated” (per Rosenthal)”
I guess MLB don’t test players for weed….
They shouldn’t. It’s legal now.