McNeil To Play Second Base For Team USA At WBC
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
After being previously contacted about joining Team USA for the 2023 World Baseball Classic by manager Mark DeRosa, it appears that Jeff McNeil is officially on board.
DeRosa recently told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that McNeil would be “taking” second base. This, of course, comes after the recent right elbow injury to Trevor Story, which will sideline the Boston Red Sox All-Star for 4-to-6 months.
According to Rosenthal, McNeil bumped into DeRosa at Wally Joyner’s golf tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was then that McNeil expressed his interest in playing for Team USA. Still, DeRosa had to politely turn him down, being that Story had been one of the first players to commit to playing for the United States in 2023 and that Mookie Betts was also perfectly capable of playing second.
Once it was announced that Story would be undergoing a procedure on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, DeRosa turned back to McNeil, who was fortunate enough to cross paths with the first-time manager down in Mexico.
He joins a list of several Mets players that have already committed to playing in the 2023 World Baseball Classic including Pete Alonso (USA), Francisco Lindor and Edwin Díaz (Puerto Rico), Starling Marte (Dominican Republic), Mark Vientos (Nicaragua), and Eduardo Escobar (Venezuela).
McNeil, who provides Team USA with a different level of versatility than Story with his ability to play the outfield, had a career season in 2022, winning the major-league Batting Title with a .326 average.
McNeil won’t be the only Mets star joining the World Baseball Classic. According to Shawn Spradling, Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo is on Team Italy’s preliminary roster and is expected to play in the WBC.
Nimmo, who signed an eight-year, $162 million extension with New York this offseason, made his international debut with the Italian national team in 2017 and figures to be an integral part of their lineup come March.
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