Jeff McNeil’s continued funk giving Mets a Jose Iglesias conundrum
NY Post
For about two months, Jeff McNeil did not produce as the everyday second baseman.
For about three weeks, McNeil has not produced as essentially the platoon second baseman.
The Mets second baseman has fallen deeper into this funk and will bring a .219 batting average — more than 100 points below his .326 mark that led the National League in 2022 — into a three-game set at Wrigley Field beginning Friday.
It is likely that the lefty swinger will be out of the lineup when the series begins and Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga gets the ball.
The question will become how long the Mets will continue to rely upon McNeil even against righties.
“Jeff McNeil is our second baseman, and he’s going to continue to get playing time,” manager Carlos Mendoza said last week, and McNeil indeed has continued to get playing time.
PHOENIX — You think of Tom Thibodeau, you think of defense.
It feels right that on the day we celebrate Aaron Judge joining an elite pantheon of athlete — the multi-time winner of the Most Valuable Player award — that we take a walk back to the beginning, when Judge was little more than a 6-foot-7, 280-pound curiosity who mostly specialized in striking out.
The NFL has warned its players to take precautions against a “transnational crime ring” that is suspected of orchestrating a number of break-ins of athletes’ homes including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Joel Embiid isn’t pleased with details of the 76ers’ team meeting after Monday’s loss being leaked, telling reporters after Wednesday’s road loss to the Grizzlies, “whoever leaked that is a real piece of s–t.”
PHOENIX — Jalen Brunson didn’t want to comment on the NBA looking into his father’s promotion and contract as a potential salary-cap circumvention, but the point guard certainly had a message to anybody questioning Rick Brunson’s coaching credentials.
PHOENIX — Wednesday brought some cautiously optimistic updates for the Knicks frontcourt.
The Greatest Escape in franchise history was perpetrated by Glen Sather, when the general manager extricated himself and the Rangers from the final five years of Scott Gomez’s contract by moving the $7,357,143-per-year center to Montreal on June 30, 2009 after two years in New York.
The Yankees publicly are on the same page: Hal Steinbrenner, like Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone before him, said that issues with the club’s fundamentals did not hover over the team all season.
The first day of the rest of Daniel Jones’ dwindling time with the Giants arrived Wednesday, with Jones in the building, in the meetings, on the practice field (although not doing very much) and not at all part of the game plan for the next game, relegated to a non-participant role for the remainder of the season.
There will be a little extra magic for Knicks-Spurs on Christmas Day.