Mets' Jeff McNeil has fractured wrist, likely will miss rest of season
Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil is hit by a pitch during the fifth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday at Citi Field. Credit: Noah K. Murray
A 74.3-mph curveball had hit him on the right wrist, on the guard Jeff McNeil keeps there for such occasions. It didn’t hurt all that much, he said Saturday morning at Citi Field; he ran the bases Friday night, he fielded a double-play ball the next inning, and he figured he should take some practice swings before his next at-bat.
Except he really couldn’t. And now McNeil’s tumultuous season — an epic first-half slump followed by a pivotal resurgence that has helped keep this Mets team in a playoff push — likely is over.
An MRI revealed that McNeil suffered a small wrist fracture in the fifth inning of the Mets’ win over the Reds on Friday, and with the typical healing time set at four to six weeks, he’s unlikely to play again this season.
If his recovery goes perfectly and the Mets make a deep October run, there’s an outside shot that he could be part of the equation then, Carlos Mendoza said.
McNeil said they’ll be getting a second opinion, and Mendoza said there is no mention of surgery.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” McNeil said of the injury. “When I got hit, I was telling the coaching staff and them to go back into the dugout — I’m fine, I’m fine. Like it barely hit me. It didn’t hurt. So I’m definitely shocked . . .
“ I want to be out there with the guys. The team has done so much and you just want to contribute. We’ve got a good group of guys in there who can do it and I’m just going to be happy to be part of it.”
The Mets, who also were surprised by the news, played shorthanded Saturday but will call someone up to fill McNeil’s spot on the roster Sunday, Mendoza said. Jose Iglesias and Pablo Reyes will continue to get reps at second base, though the team intends to monitor Iglesias’ workload.
Mendoza would not rule out bringing up top prospect Luisangel Acuna. The Mets previously have preferred to continue Acuna’s development in Triple-A, where he has a .263/.304/.365 slash line in 125 games.
Mendoza said they might opt to bring up another lefthanded hitter instead. (Brett Baty, who would have been an easy call-up, especially as he’s taken increased reps at second base this year, suffered a broken finger two weeks ago.)
Either way, it won’t be easy to match McNeil’s defensive versatility, and his second-half surge has been one of the better story lines during this action-packed Mets season.
In the first 78 games of the year, the 2022 NL batting champion had a .215/.273/.300 slash line, four homers and 19 RBIs. A change in approach — hitting the ball in the air and trying to hit it harder — made the difference, and in the last 51, he slashed .279/.365/.533 with eight homers and 25 RBIs.
“Tough year for him, but at the same time, I was very proud of him because he got off to a brutal start . . . but then he was challenged and he owned it and he stepped up,” Mendoza said. “Proud of him because he fought and he never put his head down and he was a big reason for our turnaround. Big blow for us and tough year for him.”
McNeil didn’t fully rule out picking up a bat again this year.
“If you see me on the field again, that’s a really good thing,” he said. “That means we’re deep in the playoffs. I want to say I can come back and contribute, but who knows. You’ve got to see how it heals in the next few weeks and then I think it might be a pain management kind of thing.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
