The Mets’ Jeff McNeil suffered a partial tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, ending the reigning NL batting champion’s season, he revealed Thursday.
The lefty-swinging McNeil doesn’t think he will require surgery for the UCL injury, which he believes he suffered while sliding into second base during the Mets’ series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this month.
“I remember just walking back out to center field, and [Brandon] Nimmo and I [were] talking, like, ‘That didn’t feel great,’” McNeil told reporters Thursday at Citi Field. “My elbow kind of was bugging me a bit. I remember waking up the next day, it was a little bit sore.”
McNeil was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double on Sept. 11, with his extended left arm colliding with Diamondbacks shortstop Jordan Lawlar during the bang-bang play.
The 31-year-old McNeil had played through the injury since, typically feeling it the most when he swung. The infielder-outfielder went 1-for-4 during the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Miami Marlins, then underwent an MRI during the second game.
“Yesterday, it was really bad,” McNeil said. “Wasn’t feeling good, so decided to get through the game and get it checked out.”
The Mets placed McNeil on the 10-day injured list with what the team called a left elbow sprain and recalled infielder Danny Mendick from Triple-A Syracuse. Mets manager Buck Showalter expects McNeil to be ready for spring training.
“The biggest challenge he’s gonna have right now is that he can’t play golf for a while,” Showalter said. “Not supposed to, and I reminded him of that. He’s got six weeks, not supposed to play golf. He talked about playing right-handed. This is the best golfer in the major leagues.”
McNeil plans to get a platelet-rich plasma injection Friday.
The injury ends a difficult season for McNeil, whose batting average dropped from an NL-best .326 in 2022 to .270 this year.
He slumped in June, hitting just .198 for the month, during which McNeil says he dealt with a wrist issue. He batted .230 in July, .308 in August and .297 in September.
“It’s tough,” McNeil said of his season-ending injury. “I was grinding through it. I’ve been grinding through it basically all year. I’ve always had something going on. It’s tough to have it end this way, but hopefully no other problems and be ready for next year.”
