For somebody hitting .339 to lead the major leagues, Jeff McNeil tends to get worked up about his failures.
It’s a character trait that has driven the 27-year-old Mets utilityman throughout his professional baseball career: good enough is never good enough.
Enter hitting coach Chili Davis as the sage, reassuring voice to remind McNeil during these times of self-doubt that he hasn’t gotten his last hit in the big leagues.
“The kid pushes himself and sometimes he gets a little down on himself,” Davis said. “But one thing he needs to understand: I’m never going to get mad at him because he leaves his zone once in a while, because sometimes he leaves his zone and makes out and sometimes he leaves his zone and hits the ball and he gets hits.