Jeff McNeil graduated from Nipomo (CA) High School before attending Long Beach State.... Began using a knobless bat in 2016 after one was given to him by Lamar Johnson, the Mets minor league hitting coordinator...Has used one since.... At Nipomo, played golf, baseball and basketball...Was a three-time All-League selection in golf and a two-time honoree in basketball.... Was named to the All-Academic Big West team in 2012.... Is a scratch golfer...Was named MLB's best golfer by Golf Magazine in 2019...Participated in the US Junior Amateur Golf Tournament in 2009...Jordan Spieth played in the same tournament. His brother Ryan was a third-round selection by the Chicago Cubs in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft and pitched in the Cubs system from 2012-2018..... Adopted a mixed pup named Willow from North Shore Animal League after a Bark in the Park promotion on July 26, 2019...McNeil homered that night...Willow is named after the street where they were married in California.... During the 2019-2020 offseason, he adopted a cat named Mac.... Was a judge at the 2019 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island.
2019
Finished with the fourth-highest batting average (.318, 162-510) in the National League, which led the Mets...Also ranked tied for fifth in doubles (38), tied for fifth in hit by pitches (21), and eighth in on-base percentage (.384)...His 21 hit by pitches were tied for the second-most in franchise history, (Nimmo, 22 in 2018, Alonso, 21 in 2019).... Had three separate stints on the Injured List: from May 23 (retroactive to May 22)-June 4 and August 14-23 with a left hamstring strain, and from September 26 through the end of the season with a right distal ulnar fracture (right wrist).... Also ranked among NL leaders in wRC+ (143, fifth), wOBA (.384, 10th) and strikeout percentage (13.2 percent, seventh-lowest).... Made his first Opening Day roster and earned his first All-Star selection.... Reached base safely in 108 of his 133 games played while getting at least one hit in 93 games.... Had the eighth-best batting average with runners in scoring position in baseball (.350, 36-103) (min. 100 at bats).... His .312 average vs. left-handed pitchers was the third-highest by any left-handed batter in the majors.... Homered in three-straight games for the first time in his career from August 3-5. Was one of six Mets in team history to hit .315 or better with 30 or more doubles and 20 or more homers...Joined Bernard Gilkey (1996), Mike Piazza (1998), John Olerud (1998), Edgardo Alfonzo (2000) and David Wright (2007).... From Opening Day to July 23, hit .342 (114-333), which led the major leagues.... in His 53 multi-hit games in 2019 were tied with Nolan Arenado for the fourth-most in the National League…With four games of at least four hits, McNeil trailed only Colorado's Charlie Blackmon (five games) in the National League.... His 1.371 OPS on the first pitch was the highest in the majors since Matt Holliday recorded a 1.453 mark in 2007...Courtesy of Elias.... Crushed three leadoff-homers in 2019 (July 3, July 14, and August 5).... Batted .347 (84-242) against NL East opponents with 39 runs scored, 38 RBI and nine home runs in 75 games.... Had baseball's fifth-highest road batting average (.325, 87-268) (min. 250 at bats).
2018
Finished tied for sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting, garnering one fifth-place vote...His .329 average and six triples led all NL rookies...Had his contract selected from Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast league on July 24...Made his major league debut that night as a pinch-hitter and recorded his first MLB hit with a single...Made his first MLB start on July 26 at Pittsburgh (started at third base)...Hit his first major league homer and recorded his first RBI on July 31 at Washington...Hit .329 (74-225) with three homers, 11 doubles, six triples, 19 RBI, a .381 OBP and 35 runs scored...From his debut through the end of the season, led the Mets with 74 hits (tied for eighth in majors) and a .329 average (eighth in majors, min. 200 PA)...Ranked second on the team in that span with a .381 OBP (13th in NL)...His .381 OBP was the third-highest by a Mets rookie in franchise history...Only Wally Backman (.387) and Dave Magadan (.386) posted a higher OBP in their rookie season (min. 200 PA)...Hit .340 (36-106) over 27 games in September with five doubles, three triples, one home run, nine RBI and 18 runs scored...His 36 hits in the month were the third-most in the majors and his .340 average as the fourth-best in the NL for September (min. 80 PA)...His .340 September average ranks as the second-best September average by a Mets rookie in club history (trails Darryl Strawberry, .376 in September 1983 min. 80 PA)...Hit safely in 34 of his last 40 starts, going 60-167 (.359) with nine doubles, six triples, 15 RBI and 29 runs scored...Registered 20 multi-hit games...Had eight games with at least three hits, the most in Mets history through 63 career games...His six second-half triples were a Mets rookie record and were tied for the major league lead...Only Mookie Wilson (eight triples in 1981) and Darryl Strawberry (seven triples in 1983) had more as a rookie...Had a hit in eight straight at-bats from August 19-22, the longest stretch by a Mets rookie in team history... John Milner held the previous record of seven...Research courtesy of Elias...Reached base safely 22 consecutive starts from August 13-September 9, the longest streak by a Mets hitter in 2018, recording a .443 OBP in those games...Hit safely in 14-straight starts from August 13-28 (23-58, .397)...Had a career-best 11-game hitting streak from August 16 (2)-August 26, tied for the third-longest among NL rookies...Went 19-40 (.475) with three doubles, two triples, five RBI and a 1.123 OPS in that span...Was named the Sterling Award winner for Binghamton (AA), emblematic of the team's MVP...At the time of his promotion to the majors, batting .342 (116-339) with 26 doubles, five triples, 19 home runs, 71 RBI, 72 runs scored, a .411 OBP, a .617 slugging percentage and a 1.150 OPS in 88 combined games between Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League...His 1.028 OPS was fifth-highest among all full-season minor league players while his .617 slugging percentage was third-best among full-season minor leaguers...His 71 RBI were 15th-most in the minors...Hit .368 (46-125) with 10 doubles, two triples, five homers, 28 RBI and a 1.027 OPS in 31 games for the 51s...His run with Vegas included an 18-game hitting streak from June 18-July 6 during which he batted .421 (32-76) with 13 extra-base hits, 20 RBI and 15 runs scored...He hit safely in each of his final seven games with Las Vegas prior to his promotion and in 28 of 31 games overall.
