Jeff McNeil Becomes 1st Mets Player to Win MLB Batting Title
New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil didn't have an at-bat in Wednesday's 9-2 win over the Washington Nationals, but it didn't stop him from becoming the first player in franchise history to win the MLB batting title.
According to ESPN, McNeil's batting average of .326 finished one point ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who needed to go 4-for-4 against the Colorado Rockies to overtake him.
Freeman fell just short in his bid, going 3-for-4 at the dish.
McNeil was inserted into Wednesday's game on defense in the eighth inning, but he didn't come to the plate. Mets manager Buck Showalter said he wanted to give McNeil rest before the team's NL wild-card series against the San Diego Padres this weekend, and he wasn't concerned about the batting race.
"Wouldn't put that on him," Showalter said. "The most important thing is Friday. Everything else takes second."
Freeman gave McNeil an early scare when he doubled and homered in his first two at-bats against Colorado. His attempt to unseat McNeil ended in the fifth inning with a flyout to center field.
"I was definitely paying attention to what was going on," said McNeil, who watched Freeman's game during a rain delay. "Saw Freddie's first at-bat up the middle, didn't watch the second at-bat. ... Hits a homer, and you get a little bit nervous, he's swinging the bat well, and with Freddie Freeman, four hits is normal for him.
"In his third at-bat, a good number of us were sitting in the locker room watching it. He put a good swing on it and was lucky that one stayed in the park."
McNeil had been hitting .287 heading into the second half of the season, but he hit .378 since July 30 to move ahead of Freeman and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt. The 30-year-old went on a 10-game hit streak to end the regular season and batted .465 (20-for-43) with eight multi-hit games since Sept. 23.
It was a strong bounce-back year for McNeil, who struggled last season with a .251 batting average after hitting over .300 in each of the three previous years.
"One of my goals in baseball is to win a batting title,'' the two-time All-Star said. "I wanted to get back to who I am."
