Jeff McNeil entered Tuesday’s Subway Series opener at Citi Field hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, another bad stretch in what’s been a horrendous season.
But manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday that he liked what he saw from McNeil’s at-bats in Sunday’s win over the Cubs in Chicago, where McNeil failed to pick up a hit again.
“He was better Sunday,’’ Mendoza said. “He hit three bullets.”
To Mendoza’s point, McNeil lined out three times, once at 105 mph, a second at 99 mph and a third at 91.
“He’s hitting line drives right at people,’’ Mendoza said. “It’s hard for him because he’s not getting results, but his at-bats have been better.”
Still, McNeil has been one of the few Mets hitters who has not seen an improvement in production this month.
He also sat four straight games, all versus lefties, before he returned to the lineup against a right-hander when the Mets faced the Phillies in London.
He responded in that game with a pair of hits, but entered Tuesday in another funk, this one 3-for-36 (.083) with one extra-base hit, two walks and six strikeouts.
Mendoza said McNeil could be in the mix to fill in for the injured Starling Marte in right field, with Marte expected to be out at least a month with a deep bone bruise in his right knee.
“That’s in play,” Mendoza said.
Complicating things for McNeil has been the emergence of Jose Iglesias, who wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup.
“With Iglesias playing the way he’s playing, it will be matchup-based and day-by-day,’’ Mendoza said. “I won’t hesitate to put McNeil in right field.”
Including Tuesday, McNeil has started 66 games at second and just six in the outfield, all in left.
McNeil’s presence in the lineup, anywhere, will be hard to justify if he doesn’t break out of this slump.
Entering Tuesday, only Toronto’s George Springer had a lower OPS among qualified hitters than McNeil’s .572.
It’s part of what’s been a steady decline the past two seasons for McNeil, who was the batting champ and had an OPS of .836 in 2022.
Mendoza, in his first year in the Mets dugout, has steadfastly stood behind McNeil, but Iglesias has even hit right-handers better than McNeil, while pummeling lefty pitching.