The McDeal with McNeil: Part II

[metsmarathon]

I have a novel theory: the shift. Or more properly, the end of the shift. He had a knack for hitting against the shift for lefties, hitting balls that would have been outs if they were playing straight-up. Well, now they 're playing straight up and he hasn't adjusted. Just my .02.

he should just, like, keep hitting it to the left side, no?

[Benjamin Grimm]

My question here, though, isn't about why he isn't hitting, but why are the Mets suddenly sitting him so decisively without any statement made to that regard?

I saw an interview with Mendoza who said Jeff needs time off to get his head together. I just looked for it and couldn't find a link.

Later

See the first page of this thread. I posted a link from a New York Post article.

[Edgy MD]

I have a novel theory: the shift. Or more properly, the end of the shift. He had a knack for hitting against the shift for lefties, hitting balls that would have been outs if they were playing straight-up. Well, now they 're playing straight up and he hasn't adjusted. Just my .02.

he should just, like, keep hitting it to the left side, no?

Indeed. And while they can't play three infielders on the right side anymore, they certainly aren't playing him straight up.

[MFS62]

See the first page of this thread. I posted a link from a New York Post article.

I saw it on Facebook and I thought it was from a Mets blog.
Maybe both writers were at the same press conference.

To Edgy's comment -I also remember reading an article a while back that talked about MLB eliminating the shift and it predicted that Jeff would be one of the hitters most hurt by the change but don't recall the stats they gave.
Later

[Cowtipper]

he's collapsing! i predicted it long ago! players like him always collapse! cut him now!

I agree. He's never been that great. The only season he played over 150 games, he hit .270. He was only ever a power hitter in 2019 when the ball was juiced and everyone was a power hitter. He's never been good at drawing walks.

I don't think that's necessary.

But he's never had great power or speed, his defense is solid but not stupendous, two of his .300 seasons were stunted (62 G in 2018, 60 G in 2020), and if you remove his 2022 campaign, his career average drops 10 points. He's just very Diaz-ian in that his one or two great seasons prop up the rest of his career.

Give me a break already. This Typewriter All-Star card from 2019 (Latin American release only) reminded me that McNeil was an all-star in 2019.



McNeil batted over .300 in each of his first three seasons, over more than 1,000 at bats. His lowest season BA over that span was .311. His lowest OPS+ - 130.

After an off year in 2021, he came back to win the batting title in 2022. He batted well over .300 in four of his first five seasons. And he was a batting title champ and a two-time all-star. And while the ball was certainly juiced in 2019, it was juiced for everybody. But not every outfielder made the all-star team. After five seasons, McNeil was a star and anybody denying that just doesn't know shit.

He's struggling now. And I could come up with many plausible explanations for his struggles. Maybe he's now in decline. Maybe he's hiding an injury, the kind of injury that isn't severe enough to sideline him, but enough to throw off his game. Maybe he's in a funk. I don't really know what's up with McNeil. But I can tell you what's not a convincing explanation for his current lower production: that he was always a bad player and that whenever McNeil ever did anything good, it was sheer luck. That makes no sense at all. Neither does diminishing McNeil's entire career and all of his considerable accomplishments because of his current struggles. A player can be both good and bad without having to simplify things.

Everybody sucks at the end. Everybody declines. If McNeil is in his decline, so be it. It happened to everybody. Even Babe Ruth sucked at the end. Otherwise, Keith Hernandez would still be playing first base for the Mets and Mike Piazza would still be their catcher.

1,000 ABs is 333 per season. Consistently small sample sizes. And since then, he's plummeted in every respect and has, in the aggregate, been barely anything more than a weak singles hitter with a poor OBP.

Mets fans have gotten so used to mediocrity that they latch onto the McNeils of the world. Back in the day, that was okay, because that is all we had, and all we thought we COULD have. But now we have a billionaire owner that apparently supposedly 'wants to win,' yet still ... the McNeils of the world are still all we have.

It gets old.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Y'know what else gets old? Lectures on what "Met fans" think

[Cowtipper]

I'm not lecturing anyone. But as a lifelong baseball aficionado, I've observed something curious about New York Mets fans. It seems they've grown so accustomed to mediocrity that they've developed an almost endearing attachment to it. Let's face it, the Mets have had their moments of glory, but these moments are sporadic and often overshadowed by long stretches of underwhelming performances. This pattern has shaped the fan base in unique ways.

The essence of being a Mets fan often involves celebrating minor victories and overvaluing players who, in a more successful franchise, might barely be noticed. Take, for example, the love for players like Wilmer Flores. Yes, he had his heroic moments, notably the walk-off home run after almost being traded, a moment steeped in drama and passion. But let’s be honest, his overall performance was pretty average. However, Flores is lauded, almost deified by some fans, because in a sea of mediocrity, his few shining moments stand out like beacons.

This attachment to mediocrity isn't just about individual players; it's about the team’s performance as a whole. When the Mets make it to the postseason, it's treated like a monumental achievement, even if they quickly exit without making much of an impact. This is understandable considering the team's history, but it also means that the bar for what constitutes success has been significantly lowered. Fans celebrate a .500 season as if it’s a major win, and even a slight above-average performance is heralded as greatness.

Moreover, the Mets’ management seems to understand and perhaps even exploit this sentiment. Over the years, there have been numerous signings and trades that bring in players who are, at best, solid contributors but are often sold to the fans as game-changers. And the fans buy into it because, in their context, these players do represent an improvement, however marginal. The cycle of hype and inevitable disappointment becomes a familiar rhythm.

Then there's the narrative of the "lovable underdog," which Mets fans have embraced wholeheartedly. This identity is rooted in the early years of the franchise when the Mets were the epitome of baseball futility. The 1962 team set a record for losses in a season, yet those early teams are still fondly remembered. This historical context feeds into the modern-day psyche of the fans, who often see themselves as enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, much like a Shakespearean tragic hero.

What’s fascinating is how this mentality affects the overall atmosphere around the team. There's a sense of camaraderie among fans, a shared understanding that being a Mets fan is about more than just winning. It's about the shared experience of frustration, the rare but sweet moments of success, and the ongoing hope that next year will be different. This culture of persistent hope and loyalty is admirable, but it also reinforces the cycle of mediocrity.

In other words, Mets fans have become experts at finding joy in the journey, no matter how bumpy it may be. They’ve learned to celebrate the small victories and find heroes in players who might be considered ordinary elsewhere. This isn't necessarily a bad thing—it's a testament to the resilience and passion of the fan base. However, it does mean that the standards for what constitutes success have been perpetually adjusted downwards.

Ultimately, while this attachment to mediocrity might seem peculiar from the outside, it’s a core part of what it means to be a Mets fan. It's about hope, loyalty, and a never-ending belief in the potential for greatness, even if that greatness is often just out of reach. So, here's to the Mets fans, who manage to find joy in the struggle and maintain their unwavering support in the face of perpetual mediocrity.

Hence, Jeff McNeil, despite the fervent adoration he receives from Mets fans, epitomizes the mediocrity that the fanbase has come to embrace. While McNeil is undoubtedly a versatile player, his overall performance is solid but unremarkable. His batting average hovers around respectable but not spectacular numbers, and his defensive skills, while serviceable, are far from elite. Yet, Mets fans have latched onto him, celebrating his every minor success as if it were a major victory, a testament to how deeply ingrained mediocrity has become in the culture of the team and its supporters.

[batmagadanleadoff]

No. McNeil was a very productive player and now he's not as good as he used to be . And so your take is that his current diminished production is supposed to be proof that he was never any good in the first place. It's a tremendous leap of logic and an absurd take as well. And the numbers don't support your view unless you wanna go to ridiculous lengths to distort the numbers, make 2020 disappear because it was a short season, discount 2022 because it was the only season in which McNeil won a batting title. McNeil has already had a better career than the majority of players who ever played in the majors.

[MFS62]

Cowtipper, I may not agree, but I appreciate the time and effort it took you to say that.

Later

[Cowtipper]

LOL, I'd love to take credit for it, but I just had ChatGPT do it. Because I was told I was lecturing, I told it to form a response that started with "I'm not lecturing. But..." then proceed with a long-winded lecture. Get it? Is funny, yes?

I also had it write a poem about Jeff McNeil:

There once was a Met named McNeil,
Whose bat had a moderate feel.
He'd get on base fine,
Not a star but a sign,
That mediocrity's sometimes real.

Anyway, long story short, McNeil, like Murphy before him, was serviceable. Just serviceable. Not the cornerstone of a consistently contending, playoff-bound team, no matter how much we like to try to endear him to us with cute "squirrel" epithets and so forth.

And in all actual serious, I've kind of soured on him even more because he seems like a baby. Like a sourpuss. There's been a few times when he's been on the field and taken "umbrage" to things the other team has done. It's like, Jeff, dude, get some thicker skin, ya big palooka.

[MFS62]

Then I don't appreciate it. :(
(fucking computers)
Later

[Cowtipper]

I'm sorry.

:-(

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I'm not lecturing anyone /lectures. Good one.

We've been at this for 25 years and id say we have a good perspective on the Mets. If you're looking enlighten people with the revelation that Wilmer Flores wasn't an all star there's got to be a better place for that.

[Cowtipper]

25 years?!? that's almost a quarter of a century!

[Fman99]

There's a big difference between embracing mediocrity and adjusting to it. I want these fuckers to win, same as I have every year since they last won the WS (I was 13, for reference). I don't find anything endearing about being a bad or not good baseball team. Shit hurts me in my brain and my organs.

[metirish]

This is amazing 😆

[metirish]

Baty playing second base tonight

[kcmets]

Baty playing second base tonight

Was McNutty scratched? He's still on the MLB posted lineup page link.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

nah Batty doing his thing in Syracuse

[metirish]

Sorry, I should have said Syracuse

[Cowtipper]

The McDeal is he's a limited-skilled empty singles hitter and he can't pull that off anymore.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I traveled through the cassava fields of Northwest Columbia in search of a hobby store that sold Typewriter Latin America Batman Cards

You should've went to Mexico. Or Argentina, where Batman was huge. If you didn't go to Mexico, though, I don't blame you. I wouldn't go there even with a Secret Service detail guarding me.

"The mayor-elect of a small municipality near the crime-plagued Mexican resort city of Acapulco was assassinated early Monday, local prosecutors said — the latest in a series of attacks targeting politicians."

https://www.aol.com/mayor-elect-pulled- ... 00022.html

For many years, Acapulco was the vacation and honeymoon capitol of the world.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

It's only going to get worse, according to the newscast in ROBOCOP

"More fighting in the Mexican Crisis today when American troops participated in a Joint raid with Mexican Nationals against rebel rocket positions in Acapulco."

I know that city mostly from The Love Boat

[metirish]

Going loco down in Acapulco

[Edgy MD]

So, hey, maybe the guy they need to add for the second half has been in uniform all along.

You can't project much of anything from one game, but ... what a game by McNumbles.