Happy McNeil

 ...the New York Mets' infield so far has combined for 124 RBIs. Lindor and Alonso alone have 98. 

I know we've been talking about the hydra that is the Mets' pitching, with Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and David Peterson picking up where Scherzer and Megill left off, but...just...the infield schematic of Alonso-McNeil-Lindor-Escobar, with occasional backup work from Luis Guillorme and J.D. Davis....oh my gosh.

I mean, Escobar is easily the weakest of the four starters, he's fine but only hitting .232 with 17 RBIs. But like...the Mets getting Alonso, Lindor and McNeil all on at the same time is one of the reasons why this Mets team is doing so well. We always knew Alonso could hit home runs, McNeil could smoke balls where they ain't and Lindor could pull 5-tool stuff, but...when it's happening altogether, it's pretty amazing. Alonso has 53 RBIs right now, and it's frigging June. McNeil's hitting .311 with 26 RBIs. Lindor has 9 homers and 45 RBIs. And even the little setbacks, like Lindor getting his finger caught in a doorway, can't keep this team down.

But...what the Mets have done in this era is that they've had two elite players at the same position at one time. It happened with Smith and Alonso in 2019, it happened with Rosario and Gimenez in 2020, and it's happening with McNeil and Guillorme this year. The good news is that this team has the kind of versatility that McNeil can swing to third or the outfield, Guillorme can take second or even third, or somebody can DH, and they can be in the same lineup. Guillorme, by the way, is hitting .351 with 33 hits in 94 at bats, so...any opportunity to get that man in a lineup is a good one. 

That kind of depth is good. Having Tomas Nido start when McCann hits the IL is good. Having this Nick Plummer kid come up and immediately start hitting is good. The Mets are doing so many good things right now that I sincerely hope they can sustain them over the rest of the season. Because they've had good starts, but...a lot of them have been just that. I hope they can manage a decent finish.

Coming Tonight: A Minnesota Twin who has yet to be injured....or vaccinated.