The Mets will be without their starting second baseman for the remainder of the 2024 season after Jeff McNeil fractured his wrist — a sizeable blow to a streaking team trying to cement its place in the National League Wild Card standings.
McNeil had been putting together a resurgent second half following a miserable start to the season. The former batting champion was batting .216 heading into the All-Star break but, since then, was batting .289 with a .923 OPS, seven home runs, and 20 RBI in 41 games.
Making the move official on Sunday, the Mets placed McNeil on the 10-day injured list and recalled DJ Stewart from Triple-A to bring a left-handed bat to a bench short on options from that side of the plate. But when it comes to taking McNeil’s spot at second base, Jose Iglesias appears as though he is the no-brainer option.
The 34-year-old veteran utility infielder has been a revelation in his first year with the Mets, batting .316 with an .806 OPS while providing elite defense. All the while, he has become a music star with his hit single “OMG,” which has been one of the many off-field sparkplugs for a Mets team that went from 11 games under .500 in early June to now just a half-game out of the second Wild Card spot in the NL entering Sunday’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds.
Ultimately, it should be Iglesias’ job to lose down the stretch. Still, manager Carlos Mendoza has remained adamant that his workload will be similar to what it was before McNeil’s injury.
“[We’re going to use him] the same way we’ve been using him,” Mendoza began. “He plays a couple days, two, three days, and then he gets a couple days off. He’s been pretty successful with that.”
Pablo Reyes, one of New York’s September call-ups, could also factor into the second-base conversation to keep Iglesias’ current workload intact. The veteran 31-year-old, who started the season with the Boston Red Sox, boasted an .840 OPS with 10 home runs in 59 games with Triple-A Syracuse after joining the Mets.
As the month progresses, prospect Luisangel Acuna might also be considered a depth option, though his offensive production in Triple-A has provided understandable pause. The 21-year-old has a .668 OPS in 125 games with Syracuse this season but has the speed to run his way onto the big-league club with 38 steals.
