PHILADELPHIA — The Met having the wildest week wasn’t even with the staff till Sunday.
Jeff McNeil returned to the clubhouse on Sunday after spending a week and a half residence in California, rehabbing his proper wrist and attending the start of his second youngster. That meant McNeil watching Pete Alonso’s go-ahead residence run from the maternity unit of the hospital.
“It was an experience,” McNeil mentioned. “(My wife) said, ‘Don’t go crazy.’ They’re going to think she had the baby right there. He hit the homer, I tried to contain myself, but it was a pretty special moment.”
McNeil has been out since fracturing his proper wrist one month in the past Sunday. He restarted baseball actions in the previous week, taking swings off a tee and fielding groundballs. On Sunday, he ran by a full exercise on the field and took batting apply.
“I don’t have any pain there right now. It’s more just getting the range of motion back,” he mentioned.
While the Mets haven’t dominated out a return for the versatile participant in the National League Championship Series, the World Series is likely to be a extra reasonable goal, ought to they proceed advancing in the postseason.
“I’m hoping for anything,” McNeil mentioned. “I want to be ready to play. I know there are a few more steps I have to take care of in order to be ready. We’ll work on that.”
The greatest impediment for McNeil might be getting at-bats in opposition to reside pitching. He’s been hitting off a tee at residence and took batting apply in the cage on Sunday. But the minor-league season is over, so the typical path towards reside at-bats is closed.
The finest route for McNeil to prepare seemingly includes a journey to Port St. Lucie for at-bats in opposition to Mets minor-league pitchers who're coaching at the staff’s facility. McNeil didn’t suppose he’d want too many reside at-bats, and hitting coach Jeremy Barnes indicated McNeil normally can discover his timing faster than most.
If and when he does return, McNeil would offer a much-needed left-handed bat for the Mets. In his absence, New York has grown more and more right-handed, with Brandon Nimmo the solely common left-handed bat in the lineup every day. McNeil’s versatility additionally would give supervisor Carlos Mendoza additional flexibility with his lineup: McNeil might step in at second base or play a corner-outfield spot.
“He’s been a huge part of this team the whole year, he’s been in this organization for a long time. I don’t think it will be that much of a challenge (to work him back into the lineup),” Mendoza mentioned. “It’ll play itself out.”
(Photo of Jeff McNeil taking batting apply throughout the London Series in June: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos by way of Getty Images)
