Jeff McNeil finally got his reward for giving up his uniform No. 6 to Mets free agent signing Starling Marte: a brand-new Rolex.
“It’s nice,” McNeil said in the Mets clubhouse prior to Tuesday’s doubleheader, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
McNeil had worn No. 6 for the last three seasons, but gave it up for Marte, who wore it for eight seasons in Pittsburgh and the parts of two seasons he spent in Miami.
Marte wore No. 2 for his brief stints in Arizona (David Peralta was No. 6) and Oakland (manager Bob Melvin had it last year), but that is taken by Dominic Smith, so McNeil – who was also No. 68 as a rookie in 2018 – decided to go all the way down to No. 1, which belonged to Jonathan Villar last year and Amed Rosario before that.
The new number seems to be suiting McNeil, who entered Tuesday with a .344/.447/.438 slash line in his first nine games, and added a two-run double to his resume in the fifth inning of Game 1.
He’s also done some of that damage while flanking Marte in the Mets’ outfield, as the loss of both Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha to the COVID IL on Friday moved McNeil out to left field for the Mets’ weekend series with Arizona. He was there once again in Game 1, despite Nimmo being activated from the COVID IL prior to the doubleheader.
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