The road to a return to the Mets for Jeff McNeil grows nearer after a successful game in the Arizona Fall League on Friday night.
Hitting second at second base for the Scottsdale Scorpions, McNeil went 1-for-4 with a walk.
In the first inning, McNeil worked a 3-2 count against right-hander Griff McGarry from the Philadelphia Phillies system before lofting a single to right field on a 94 mph fastball.
McNeil’s second at-bat — this time in the third — ended with a groundout to the shortstop on a 2-0 count. McNeil walked in his third at-bat and flew out to left in his final AB in the ninth inning.
McNeil is scheduled to play another game in the Arizona Fall League on Saturday before the Mets decide whether the infielder/outfielder will make the roster for the upcoming National League Championship Series.
The Mets won’t have to submit their NLCS roster until before Game 1 on Sunday but manager Carlos Mendoza indicated that if all goes well this weekend, McNeil — who hasn’t played since Sept. 6 with a wrist fracture — will make the team.
“I feel good,” McNeil told reporters before Game 2 of the NLDS. “Got cleared to do some baseball activities and the wrist is feeling pretty good.
“I don’t have any pain [in my wrist] right now, it’s more just getting the range of motion back and that’s all feeling really good. We’re at the point where I’ve been doing baseball activities, been swinging the bat the last week or so, been taking ground balls, running. It’s just getting back into that baseball shape and kinda taking it day-by-day.”
McNeil indicated that he anticipates making the NLCS roster after the Mets clinched the NLDS against the Phillies.
In 129 games this season, McNeil had 26 doubles, 12 home runs and 44 RBI while batting .238 with a .692 OPS.
Also playing for the Scorpions was Mets prospect Jett Williams.
The young outfielder went 2-for-2 with a walk a triple and a run. The big hit came in the fourth when Williams smashed an 83 mph changeup on a 1-0 count into right field. The right fielder was up against the wall and jumped to keep it in the ballpark, but could not come up with the catch allowing Williams to lead off the inning with a triple.
With the minor league season finished, Williams — the No. 1 prospect in the Mets’ system according to Joe DeMayo — is getting more work in after missing a lot of time this year after undergoing wrist surgery.
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