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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterOct 11, 2024, 01:23 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — When Jeff McNeil landed on the injured list with a fractured right wrist in early September, he knew it would take the New York Mets making a deep playoff run to play again in 2024.
“I would say if you see me on the field again, that’s a really good thing,” McNeil said at the time.
That really good thing has happened for the Mets, who have advanced to the National League Championship Series. Now it’s a matter of whether McNeil will join them, and it’s looking likely.
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Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said McNeil will play games in the Arizona Fall League on Friday and Saturday. The plan is for McNeil to compile at least four plate appearances and play at least seven innings in each game. If that goes well, McNeil will be considered for the Mets’ NLCS roster ahead of Game 1 on Sunday.
“That’s the goal,” Mendoza said, “so that he could go back-to-back and get that volume and being on his feet and ups and downs and playing a full game.”
The Mets had to petition Major League Baseball to allow him to play in Arizona Fall League games because of Hurricane Milton’s impact on the organization’s spring training facilities in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
McNeil was the Mets’ primary second baseman during the regular season before he was hit by a pitch Sept. 7. He started 95 games at the position, but he also made 22 starts between left and right field. McNeil, the NL batting champion in 2022, posted career lows in batting average (.238) and on-base percentage (.308) with 12 home runs in 472 plate appearances this season.
Jose Iglesias became the Mets’ everyday second baseman once McNeil went down. The veteran is batting .348 with a .789 OPS in 29 games between the regular season and the playoffs in the role.
Without McNeil, the Mets had rookie Luisangel Acuña on their National League Division Series roster. McNeil could take Acuña’s roster spot if New York decides to carry 13 pitchers and 13 position players again in the NLCS, but Mendoza acknowledged the club is considering carrying one fewer pitcher. That would allow the Mets to have both McNeil and Acuña on the roster.
