Jeff McNeil enters his third consecutive season as the Mets primary second baseman in 2024. While that spot is not in doubt at the major league level, let’s take a look at the depth do the Mets have at the position in the minor league levels as the Flying Squirrel heads into his age-32 season. 

In The Bigs

As mentioned earlier, McNeil has the second base spot under complete control as he enters year two of his 4-year extension, with 33-year-old Joey Wendle on the bench as a backup option.

McNeil will be looking for a more balanced season after a rollercoaster-type year in which he posted a 2.4 oWAR (lowest since 2021, 1.3). The two-time All-Star finished with a strong second half of 2023 (.291/.337/.438, 7 home runs, 29 RBIs) after a rather disappointing start to the year (.253/.331/.328, 3 home runs, 26 RBIs). 

Wendle has struggled the last two years in Miami, playing in 213 games and posting a .610 OPS. While Wendle has struggled with the bat the last two seasons, he has continued to show his positional versatility at short, second, and third. He will be looking to regain some of the magic he captured in 2021 when he replaced Mike Trout in the 2021 Midsummer Classic.

Prospects On The Farm

1. Ronny Mauricio

Age: 22
Height/Weight: 6’3”, 166 lbs
Acquired: Signed as an International Free Agent in July 2017
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: No. 7

Throughout spring training last year, Mauricio was the talk of Port St. Lucie when he hit four home runs and drove in eight runs in 33 at-bats. That momentum carried over into his 2023 season at Triple-A Syracuse. In 116 games at Triple-A, he had a slash line of .292/.346/.506 with 23 home runs, 71 RBIs. and an OPS of .852. 

The bulk of Mauricio’s success last year came in the first two months of the season when he carried over the momentum from winter ball and spring training. He had seven home runs and 33 at-bats while hitting .348 in the process. Unfortunately, he failed to hit over. 300 in the next three months and ended up having 20+ strikeouts in each of those months. 

Despite Mauricio’s continued struggles with making consistent contact, the Mets gave him a shot at the big leagues with a September call-up. He had a slash line of .248/.296/.347 with two home runs, nine RBIs, and seven stolen bases. However, he did end up striking out 28.7% of the time. He was able to provide the Mets some positional versatility with his ability to play shortstop, third base, and second base, as he was learning the outfield at Triple-A. 

Mauricio was in sight to have a shot at making the Opening Day roster this year, but he, unfortunately, tore his ACL while taking a lead off of first base in winter ball. While Mauricio will miss the bulk of this season and lose some valuable development time, he is still only heading into his age-23 season. If he can cut down on the strikeouts, he can still be a valuable part of the Mets future going forward. With the versatility of McNeil, second base isn’t a position where Mauricio would be blocked in terms of playing time should the franchise choose to take his development in that direction. 

2. Jeremiah Jackson

Age: 23
Height/Weight: 6’0”, 165 lbs
Acquired: Trade with the Angels in August 2023 for RHP Dominic Leone
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: No. 36

The acquisition of Jackson at the trade deadline last year might have been overlooked, considering the other top prospects the organization received. With that being said, Jackson was able to show off some power in a limited sample size for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies once he arrived. 

Jackson appeared in 37 games for Binghamton (not counting the postseason) and ended up slugging .457 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs to go with a .801 OPS. If you combined his numbers at Double-A in the Angels organization, the 22 home runs he hit was one shy of his career-high (23 in 2019 with Rookie-Level Orem). 

Like Mauricio, Jackson has shown strong positional versatility as he could play second base, third base, and has experience in all three outfield positions. Jackson spent 14 of his 37 games last year in the Mets organization at second base. While there is no set position for Jackson, the defensive side of his game will need to continue to develop along with his plus power tools. 

While Jackson has good power, he will need to improve on making contact on a consistent basis. Last year, he had 144 strikeouts in 119 games after having only 77 strikeouts in 87 games in 2022. With that being said, 2023 was the first year Jackson played in above rookie-ball that he appeared in 100+ games (missed time in 2021 and 2022 due to quad and oblique injuries). 

If Jackson can repeat staying on the field in 2024, his power numbers have the potential to draw more eyes to his development as a player.

3. A.J. Ewing

Age: 19
Height/Weight: 6’0”, 160 lbs
Acquired: 4th Round Pick in 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Springboro High School (Ohio)
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: No. 40

Ewing was the second infielder that the Mets took in the first four rounds of last year’s MLB Draft. Ewing was selected with the 134th pick, which is the selection the team received when Jacob deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers. During the draft process, Future Stars Series talked about how his violent swing could lead to success for the left-hander as he moves up in the system. 

“Ewing has a sweet, violent swing from the left side, and has added some muscle that’s helped him drive balls around the yard. He’s a capable up-the-middle defender with enough bounce and arm strength to play at shortstop. He’s also an advanced bat speed guy that’s performed against higher levels of competition.”

This past year, Ewing only played in seven games at the Florida Complex League. In that small sample size, he had an on-base percentage of .524. Over 14 at-bats, he collected a double, three RBIs, a stolen base, five walks, and six strikeouts. While he did play some outfield, the majority of his playing time came at second base (four games). 

Back in August, Ewing talked with Bruce Hefflinger of Prep Baseball Report and he said that he knows he needs to work on improving his defense and work towards adding weight, but he knows that his bat can help him as he adjusts to professional baseball. 

“The main thing with me is I need to put on some weight,” Ewing explained. “I’m not the biggest guy here. My defense also has to get better but my bat will always be my carry tool.”

4. Luke Ritter

Age: 26 (27 on February 15)
Height/Weight: 5’11”, 187 lbs.
Acquired: 7th Round Pick in 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft Out Of Wichita State
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: Not Ranked

Even though the Mets have some strong position-player prospects in the organization, the one player who provided the most power in the system in 2023 was Ritter. Over the course of 107 games at Double-A and Triple-A, he had a slash line of .244/.372/.496 with 27 home runs, 64 RBIs, and an .898 OPS. 

This past season, Mets Minors talked to Ritter about how he feels he has developed as a player when he was drafted to where he is at now and he brought up the power, but also mentioned the changes he has made that has helped lead to more power (15 home runs in 2022 at Binghamton and Syracuse). 

“I think development of the swing. I learned how to hit the ball in the air to the pull side a little better than I had in the past, where I would roll over and hit more line drives or ground balls. I felt like I could always hit the ball hard. It’s more hitting more mistakes and getting good pitches to hit and not missing those pitches. I’ve felt like I have done that more lately.”

Ritter played almost half of his games at second base (51) in 2023, but he also spent time in the infield at first and third as well as spending eight innings each at short and left field. For him, it doesn’t matter which position he is at as long as he is in the lineup. 

Ritter stated that he “definitely take pride in defense because if you don’t play defense, it’s hard to keep you in the lineup. So you have to be able to play defense.” He went on to say that playing multiple positions gives him the most opportunity to be on the field. Ritter said, “I don’t really care where I’m at on the field. I just want to be in the lineup every day… I’m happy to play whatever position they have me play.”

Ritter is going to be at Triple-A when the 2024 season begins. While he isn’t on the 40-man roster, his power is going to be fun to watch early in the season to see if he continues where he left off in 2023. 

5. Rowdey Jordan

Age: 25
Height/Weight: 5’10”, 190 lbs
Acquired: 11th Round Pick in 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Mississippi State
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: Not Ranked

As Jordan heads into his third full year of professional baseball, the switch-hitter has some good momentum coming off a solid outing in the Arizona Fall League (.255/.367/.373 in 15 games for Glendale).

Jordan spent the entire 2023 season with Double-A Binghamton and had a slash line of .230/.344/.389 with 13 home runs, 63 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, and an .OPS of .733 in 119 games. 

He was the best speed threat on the Rumble Ponies as he had 15 more stolen bases than any other player on the roster and he showed a good ability to hit the ball in the gap and pick up extra bases (second on the team in doubles with 23). 

Compared to 2022, Jordan did a much better job of getting the ball in the air on contact in 2023. According to FanGraphs, his groundball percentage went down from 45.9% in 2022 to 39.7% in ‘23. Meanwhile, his flyball percentage went up from 39.2% in ‘22 to 43.2% in ‘23. He was also able to cut down on his strikeout rate (27% in ‘22 to 22.8% in ‘23). 

As for his defense, Jordan played more games at second base (43) than any other player at Binghamton. He ended up making three errors, but he did turn 24 double plays as well. In addition to second base, Jordan did spend some time at third base and at all three outfield spots. 

This year, Jordan should get the chance to challenge himself at Triple-A and as he continues to make those improvements, more eyeballs might turn his way in 2024.