Jeff McNeil Thaws My Frozen Heart

As I rack my brain trying to figure out where to upgrade this team, I’m increasingly being swayed towards this Jeff McNeil kid as our second baseman next season.

McNeil is hitting close to .300 in his brief time with the Mets, thanks to his four hits on Tuesday to lead the Mets to a 6-3 victory over San Francisco. While he was touted as the next Daniel Murphy, McNeil is lacking in an area that Murphy excelled at with the Mets, and that’s the penchant for making the “what in the holy hell are you thinking” decision. That’s probably because he isn’t being paraded all around the diamond yet and is being allowed to focus on one position while making himself a better hitter. Is McNeil going to be a Hall of Famer? Doubtful. But the Mets are looking (or at least should be looking) to win in 2019, and as of this moment I think McNeil gives them the best chance at doing that.

Most of the improvements lie around the fringes of the roster, with the odd upgrade at catcher and first base, with the former coming from the outside and the latter perhaps coming from within. Second base was a position I was sure would be addressed from the outside. But with the options being three free agents who have already played here, it’s nice that McNeil gives them the option of looking forward instead of looking back, which is what the Mets usually do.

I was hard pressed to find legitimate reasons to watch the Mets down the stretch. But I’ve seen what I needed to see at second base. McNeil deserves a real shot in 2019. Not a Wilmer Flores shot where you get six hits and we’ll start you in four out of ten games. A real shot. The trick, of course, is not to expect that Jeff McNeil will be an all star, but to have a plan in case McNeil isn’t the second coming. And by plan, I don’t mean Jose Reyes.

But I’ve said too much. Why spoil all the fun? Jeff McNeil is extraordinary. Corey Oswalt was great as well, and Michael Conforto hit a three run homer in the eighth after McNeil gave the team the lead. Smiles everyone … smiles.

Today’s Hate List

Matt Adams. Because he just got traded and I have a friend who is Matt Adams’ sworn arch enemy for reasons he can’t even fathom. He just goes with it. I will too.