{"id":24614,"date":"2020-07-10T06:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T03:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mets-jeff-mcneil-makes-batting-title-run-at-400-feel-possible\/"},"modified":"2020-07-10T06:03:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T03:03:00","slug":"mets-jeff-mcneil-makes-batting-title-run-at-400-feel-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mets-jeff-mcneil-makes-batting-title-run-at-400-feel-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"#Mets\u2019 Jeff McNeil makes batting title, run at .400 feel possible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Mets\u2019 Jeff McNeil makes batting title, run at .400 feel possible<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                        The answer from Jeff McNeil never changes: Yes, I believe I can lead the league in hitting.<\/p>\n<p>The question for Jeff McNeil changes in a 60-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> baseball season.<\/p>\n<p>How high is up for this line-drive Hit Machine?<\/p>\n<p>On a Zoom call on Thursday, there was also this question for McNeil:<\/p>\n<p>Could he hit .400 over a 60-game season? Become the first to do it since Ted Williams hit .406 79 years ago?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be nice,\u201d McNeil said. \u201cI know I had a really good first half of the year last year, so hopefully can do it again, got 60 games to go out there and get as many hits as possible. Hopefully by the end of the year, it is .400, but we\u2019ll see. My goal right now is just to get on base as much as I can for the guys behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jose Reyes was the first and last Met to lead the league in hitting (.337) in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>McNeil, who never met a pitch he didn\u2019t like to swing at, will have Pete Alonso and maybe even Yoenis Cespedes batting behind him.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d be nuts to dismiss Squirrel\u2019s chances to surpass Reyes and lead the NL. McNeil doesn\u2019t buy that a walk is as good as a hit, so the 254 at-bat minimum shouldn\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is John Olerud, who holds the Mets\u2019 season record (.354) when he finished second in the 1998 batting race to Larry Walker (.363).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15963172\"><img alt=\"Jeff McNeil\" data- data- height=\"441\" width=\"662\"><\/img><figcaption><span>Jeff McNeil<\/span><span>Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What if McNeil, who considers a game-day hot dog a good luck charm, continues to draw inspiration from Joey Chestnut?<\/p>\n<p>McNeil was hitting .349 at last season\u2019s All-Star break before finishing at .318.<\/p>\n<p>Olerud hasn\u2019t seen enough of McNeil at the plate, but he believes a 60-game season gives someone a chance to hit .400.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think not playing as many games does give somebody a chance to do that, for sure,\u201d Olerud told The Post by phone. \u201cIf you are hot early in the run and you\u2019re able to maintain that, you only have to maintain it for 60 games as opposed to 162.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McNeil\u2019s unbridled joy can be seen and heard from the press box. He is every bit the Boy of Summer that Alonso is at spring training 2.0.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun [to] be back with the boys \u2026 love to be back out there and hitting again,\u201d McNeil said.<\/p>\n<p>McNeil\u2019s challenge is to keep on hitting for average after muscling up with 16 homers over the final 57 games last season to finish with 23 HR.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I can do both,\u201d McNeil said. \u201cLast year in the second half I didn\u2019t really change anything, the ball just started to go over the fence a little bit more. This year I came in a little bit stronger, a little bit bigger, but I\u2019m still not gonna change my <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach up there. I\u2019m gonna go up there, try to put the ball in play, try to set the table for big hitters like Yo and Pete and J.D. [Davis] and [Michael] Conforto. \u2026 My job\u2019s to get on base, and if the homers are there, it\u2019s a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the grind of a 162-game season no longer a factor, there is a buzz to the \u201cCan anyone hit .400?\u201d crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Chipper Jones was at .400 after 73 games in 2008. Nomar Garciaparra was at .403 on July 20, 2000. Todd Helton was at .3995 as late as Aug. 21, 2000.<\/p>\n<p>The three foremost .400 threats since the Splendid Splinter were Tony Gwynn (.394 in the strike-shortened 1994 season), George Brett (.390 in 1980) and Rod Carew (.388 in 1977). Brett was over .400 as late as Sept. 19.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Submit your Mets questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>When Olerud won his AL batting title (.363) in 1993, he was hitting .400 after his 107th game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was significantly above .400 for the first month,\u201d Olerud recalled. \u201cAnd people would come up and talk to me, \u2018Hey, should we give Ted Williams a call?\u2019 \u2026 in April. So I was like, \u2018No, I wouldn\u2019t worry about it right now.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd my thought was, \u2018I\u2019m gonna keep this going as long as I can.\u2019 My fundamentals were really good, and my timing was good, and I got into a groove where I felt like the only way somebody was gonna get me out is if I hit the ball hard at somebody \u2026 I kinda came out of nowhere putting a good year together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The growing <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> attention didn\u2019t bother Olerud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never felt any pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cI never felt like the expectation was that I was gonna be the guy to hit .400.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alas, Olerud became his own worst enemy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t sneak up on anybody,\u201d Olerud said. \u201cThey know they need to make good pitches, and try to pitch you smart. I think probably I got to August, and got to thinking, \u2018Wow, I\u2019ve been doing it for four months, maybe I can do it the last couple of months.\u2019 And I think you start thinking too much about the result and getting hits as opposed to just having good quality at-bats and taking a good swing and getting a good pitch to hit. You get away from what\u2019s been making you successful, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitting .400 remains a long shot, for anyone and everyone.<\/p>\n<p>But Jeff McNeil, 28 years old and in his prime and born to rake, can absolutely win a batting title.<\/p>\n<p>LFGM can also mean Let\u2019s (bleeping) Go McNeil.\n            <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Sports <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>if you want to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">watch Movies<\/a> or Tv Shows go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/dizi.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a> <\/span> for forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/07\/09\/mets-jeff-mcneil-makes-batting-title-run-at-400-feel-possible\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Mets\u2019 Jeff McNeil makes batting title, run at .400 feel possible&#8221; The answer from Jeff McNeil never changes: Yes, I believe I can lead the league in hitting. The question for Jeff McNeil changes in a 60-game baseball season. How high is up for this line-drive Hit Machine? On a Zoom call on Thursday, there&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36142,36143],"class_list":["post-24614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-mets-jeff-mcneil-makes-batting-title","tag-run-at-400-feel-possible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}