Johnny Leonard Roosevelt “Pepper” Martin was an All-Star for the famed “Gashouse Gang” Cardinals of the 1930s. He played third base and right field, was an audacious base runner, had a lifetime batting average just below .300 and played with such reckless abandon that scribes gave him a nickname: Wild horse.
Martin, born Feb. 29, 1904, played his final game in 1944, which would not make him all that relevant to the New York Mets — who would not exist for another 16 years — except for one thing: Through the miracle of Baseball-Reference and math, we can see that Martin is the seventh-most similar batter (through the age-29 season) to the Mets’ Jeff McNeil, another versatile contact hitter with a fearless playing style and fantastic nickname.
That would be the stuff of trivia questions, of course, but a closer inspection at the other players on the list reveals an interesting trend: McNeil is such a throwback in style and such an outlier in career arc — few players debut at age 26 and grow into great players — that four other men on the list were born in the 1890s and early 1900s. McNeil, in other words, is such a unique baseball force — blending contact, hustle and premium defense in the infield and outfield – that it is as if he was dropped in from a previous era.
“He’s such a versatile hitter,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, “you could do about anything with him.”
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The subtle genius of Jeff McNeil has been on display once again as the Mets, 28-15, have built an eight-game lead in the NL East. He is batting .306 with one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball. He is making plays at second base and in left field. In a series win in Colorado this past weekend, he had a multi-hit game on Saturday and another double in a victory on Sunday.
McNeil is so adroit with the bat that Showalter compares him to 1) a point guard surveying the defense and looking for holes; and 2) Wade Boggs. (The latter because the angle of McNeil’s bat can create interesting spin.) He chokes up and makes contact to all fields. He delivers with runners in scoring position. He has been so consistent that he has mostly squashed the concerns that bubbled up after a relatively disappointing season in 2021. Or, as teammate Mark Canha puts it:
“If you hit over .300, you raked. It’s hard to do. It can’t be overlooked.”
So let’s take a moment to consider McNeil, one of the current masters of hitting .300. Just seven players in all of baseball have carried a .300 average across the last five seasons. McNeil — one of the seven – enters Monday with his career average right at .300. In a modern era of launch angle and rising strikeouts and expected batting average metrics, McNeil is something else, a connoisseur of contact who has finally learned to stop worrying about exit velocity and love the well-placed single.
“I think when people talk about average isn’t valued so much anymore, it’s kind of just another way of saying it’s hard to hit .300,” Canha says. “There’s not as many people that do it, so we have to look elsewhere for value.
“It should be valued. Especially if the other numbers are paying off as well. Which Jeff walks and slugs, too, a little bit.”
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Highest batting average since the start of 2018
| Player | Batting average | wRC+ |
| Michael Brantley | .308 | 128 |
| Freddie Freeman | .306 | 142 |
| Mike Trout | .302 | 183 |
| Xander Bogaerts | .301 | 136 |
| Trea Turner | .301 | 125 |
| Jeff McNeil | .300 | 126 |
| Tim Anderson | .300 | 117 |
(minimum 1,500 plate appearances)
It’s possible, of course, that baseball is cycling back toward what Jeff McNeil brings. In 2014, just 14 players batted .300 — the lowest since the turn of the last century. For comparison: Fifteen years ago, 40 players topped the .300 mark, and while that’s just one metric among many, it offers a shorthand view of a game that has become plagued by strikeouts and dominated by defensive shifts that siphon off singles.
Beginning next season, teams will no longer be allowed to have more than two infielders on one side of second base. On the one hand, the change could increase the value of contact. On the other, McNeil is the type of hitter who can beat any defense. In any case, Showalter believes that baseball is already starting to take a closer look at batting average.
“I think you’re gonna see that increase some,” he said, speaking of the value of skill sets like McNeil’s. “Especially when some of the shifts go away. It’s gonna be a little different. I think people are starting to take a glance at batting average a little bit more.”
For now, McNeil remains a player who is equal parts valuable and entertaining, a flying squirrel who creates action, a hitter who, more often than not, has seemed to be in the middle of victories. Since 2018, the only players who have been better at avoiding strikeouts are David Fletcher, Andrelton Simmons, Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel and Wilmer Flores. In 2022, McNeil has embraced this approach and style. If there are runners on base, he has a simple strategy: “I’m just trying to hit a line drive up the middle,” he said. If there is nobody on, he simplifies it even more.
Hit it where they’re not.
It’s a style, of course, that can work in any era.
THE EXPOSITION
“Let’s play two.” — Ernie Banks
“Baseball is 90 percent mental; the other half is physical.” — Yogi Berra
“Just don’t lose two in a row.” — The 2022 New York Mets
OK, to my knowledge, nobody on this year’s Mets team has uttered those words exactly. But the club is adhering to a simple formula: They win games. They win series. They lose some. Every team does. But they almost never lose two in a row.
The trend continued Sunday in Colorado, where Taijuan Walker became the first pitcher this season to throw at least seven shutout innings at Coors Field. The Mets — see if you can follow me here — won their 14th straight game after a loss.
“It’s a pretty steady mental team,” Showalter said.
The competition will tick upward on Monday as the road trip continues in San Francisco. The Giants haven’t been playing well. They are 4-6 in their last 10 and were swept over the weekend by the Padres. But their pitching staff remains formidable, and the Mets are continuing their first week without the services of Max Scherzer, who is resting his strained oblique.
THE PITCHING POSSIBLES
At San Francisco
LHP David Peterson (1-0, 1.89) vs. Alex Cobb (3-1, 5.61)
RHP Chris Bassitt (4-2, 2.77) vs. Logan Webb (5-1, 3.54)
TBA vs. Jakob Junis (1-1, 2.70)
WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT THE METS THIS WEEK
David Peterson will take the ball on Monday. According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, lefty Thomas Szapucki could get his first start of the season on Wednesday. Peterson hasn’t started since May 3, when he allowed three earned runs in a win against the Braves. Szapucki appeared in one game last season, allowing six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings in a 20-2 loss to the Braves.
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The Mets got another terrific performance from Walker on Sunday, and they will continue to lean on Carlos Carrasco and Chris Bassitt. But they will need contributions from Peterson (and at times Szapucki) until they get healthy.
PREDICTION
Edwin Díaz will spend part of mid-July in Los Angeles.
— The Athletic’s Nick Groke contributed to this report.
(Photo: Mark Goldman / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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