BIOGRAPHY
Jeff McNeil was born on April 8, 1992, in Santa Barbara, California. He is an infielder and outfielder in the MLB.
He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 12th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. McNeil made his professional debut with the Kingsport Mets. He played 2014 with the Savannah Sand Gnats and St. Lucie Mets and 2015 with St. Lucie and Binghamton Mets. After the 2015 season, he played in the Arizona Fall League.
In 2016, McNeil began using an unorthodox knobless bat given to him by Mets minor league hitting coordinator Lamar Johnson. He thenceforth began using knobless bats exclusively. He played in 51 games combined in 2016 and 2017 with Binghamton, St. Lucie and Las Vegas 51s. McNeil started 2018 with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and was promoted to Las Vegas during the season.
McNeil was promoted to the majors for the first time on July 24, 2018. He recorded his first Major League hit that night at Citi Field against Phil Hughes of the San Diego Padres on the first pitch he saw. He hit his first Major League home run off Tanner Roark of the Washington Nationals on July 31. For the season with the Mets, he batted .329/.381/.471 in 225 at bats. He led all MLB hitters (140 or more plate appearances) in batting average against right-handers, at .345. McNeil received one vote in the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award polling, placing him in a three-way tie for sixth place with Harrison Bader and Yoshihisa Hirano.
On June 10, 2022, McNeil was named to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game as a representative for the National League, the second selection of his career. He was chosen as a reserve for the squad, with Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. starting at the position.
On November 10, 2022, McNeil won his first career Silver Slugger Award for second basemen. He was the first Met to win the award since Yoenis Céspedes won it in 2016. He also became the first Met second baseman to win the award since Edgardo Alfonzo in 1999.
On January 27, 2023, McNeil agreed to a four-year, $50 million contract to remain with the Mets. The deal includes a fifth-year team option.
