Mets shut down Jeff McNeil because of partial UCL tear
The Mets' Jeff McNeil runs the bases on his solo home run during the ninth inning of a game against the Marlins on Sept. 18 in Miami. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
Jeff McNeil’s season ended several days early Thursday when the Mets put him on the injured list with a sprained left, non-throwing elbow.
More specifically, he has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, a condition that sometimes requires Tommy John surgery. McNeil and the Mets aren’t considering an operation, though, and instead he’ll get an injection of platelet-rich plasma — which promotes healing — on Friday.
Manager Buck Showalter said McNeil should be good to go come spring training.
“Hopefully that takes care of it and no other problems,” McNeil said of the PRP.
Perhaps the toughest development: no golf for six weeks.
“He’s not supposed to. I’m going to remind him of that,” Showalter said. “We’ll see. He’s got six weeks he’s not supposed to play golf. He’s talking about playing righthanded.”
The Mets called up utility man Danny Mendick to fill McNeil’s roster spot.
McNeil suspected he suffered the sprain on an awkward slide into second base against the Diamondbacks two weeks ago. His elbow bothered him periodically since then, especially when he swung, but got worse Wednesday. He sat out the second game of the Mets’ doubleheader to get an MRI.
The premature conclusion worsened the disappointment level for McNeil, who finished with a .270 average in a career-high 156 games. He batted 56 points lower than his majors-leading .326 last year.
He partially blamed a wrist injury, not previously disclosed, suffered in late June during a series in Philadelphia. In the ensuing month, he had a .188/.242/.271 slash line, so “dealing with a little something through (June and July) doesn’t help.”
“This from a guy who chased batting average in my little career: The difference between hitting .270 and .268 is huge in the offseason,” Showalter said. “Something about a ‘7’ as opposed to a ‘6’ . . . How far he came to get back to .270 — this is a guy that led the globe in hitting last year for batting average. He’s got a lot of pride. He was talking about how much he was driven to get there.”
McNeil said: “Obviously, not where I want to be, but where I was, turning it around in the second half, put a lot of hard work in there. When I was down there, my lowest low, I wanted to save my season and get back to .270. .270 was a goal of mine. I was able to achieve that.”
Playing regularly mattered, too.
“I was able to be on the field every single day,” he said, “and I’m proud of that.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
