Jeff McNeil and his swing are happy again, and the Mets are reaping the benefits
Jeff McNeil of the Mets reacts after his 10th-inning game-winning hit against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
By nearly every metric, the early July game against the Pirates last year was an utter nightmare for the Mets. They were facing superstar Paul Skenes, and were walloped, 14-2. Though they’d already begun the comeback that would eventually key them to an unlikely NLCS run, there were no guarantees on that day, when they were still two games under .500.
But baseball teaches us there can be value in failure, and Jeff McNeil found it there.
He’d been scuffling all season and the former batting champion came into that day hitting .215 before smashing a solo homer off one of the most fearful pitchers in baseball. Weeks later, when he had turned his season around, he referenced that at-bat as a turning point.
He doesn’t remember that moment anymore, but his swing does.
“Probably the second half last year,” he said Tuesday when asked when things really flipped for him. “I couldn’t tell you what series it was… I’m just trying to hit it hard. I’m not trying to guide the ball out there. I feel like sometimes in big situations, I try to guide the ball out there and that’s where I tend to get in a little bit of trouble. So, you know, try to get good pitches, put your ‘A’ swing on it and good things have been happening.”
They call this version of McNeil “Happy Jeff,” because, for a player who wears his emotions plainly, there were huge chunks of 2023 and 2024 that saw him decidedly not happy. Tuesday, he collected a walk-off single against the Nationals, and against the Rockies over the weekend, he homered three times.
He came into the day slashing .266/.359/.532 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 36 games, and is second on the team in OPS (.891) behind Pete Alonso. Going into Tuesday, he’d reached safely in 13 straight games, hitting .319 in that stretch. Though he batted just .238 last year, this season is very much an extension of his 2024: In the 77 games since that All-Star break, he’s slashed .278/.368/.540.
The difference?
“He’s swinging with authority and not just trying to put the ball in play,” Carlos Mendoza said over the weekend. “There’s a lot of different versions of Jeff but this version is the one we’re looking for and the one he wants to be.”
Having McNeil essentially hit for power over average may seem counterintuitive. His bat-to-ball skills are excellent, and his .326 average in 2022 won him that batting title. Even at max capacity, he doesn’t hit the ball particularly hard.
But it’s working. This year has seen two significant improvements: His launch angle sweet spot percentage – a measure of solid contact – is way up, and he’s swinging at far fewer pitches out of the strike zone. That last one seems to be key: McNeil, who can be very good at the old ‘hitting ‘em where they ain’t’ philosophy, is resisting the urge to chase anything for the sake of contact.
“In ’22, I won the batting title, which was incredible, but then I feel like sometimes I was searching for hits and I think that could be a little tough [when they’re] not falling,” he said. “You just want to be who you are. I feel like this is kind of who I am, and I want to stick with it.”
It’s the philosophy that got him into the big leagues, after all. In 2018, he had 19 homers and 71 RBIs in 88 games between Double- and Triple-A, and the average was there, too (he batted .342). So, he returned to his roots. It helps that he's naturally very good at squaring up.
“It’s pretty hard to hit for average in this league,” he said. “Pitchers are so good and so tough that I feel like when you do get a good pitch to hit, you’ve got to do some damage on it… The first half of last year is not who I am. It was tough. It was frustrating. It was not very fun. I was able to make adjustments. I think this game is about adjustments and I feel like I’m the kind of player who can adjust on the fly, and do what I need to do to get the job done.”
Notes & quotes: Mark Vientos, who suffered a low-grade hamstring strain last week, took batting practice before Wednesday's game, signaling his return to baseball activities…Frankie Montas (lat) will throw another rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse Friday, but Mendoza said it might not be his last. Montas has struggled in his four rehab outings, allowing 12 runs and six homers, with eight walks and nine strikeouts over 12 innings. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner spoke to him about his mechanics but “this is kind of like spring training for him and hitters now are in mid-season form, [so] it’s hard to put too much” value in the rehab results, Mendoza said…Sean Manaea (oblique), who tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings with Single-A Brooklyn Tuesday, will have a third rehab outing on Sunday. Mendoza said they've yet to discuss how to handle the rotation when Montas and Manaea return.
Newsday's Anthony Rieber contributed to this story.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
