One of Mets' Top Prospects Awaiting Roster Decision After Major Leaguer Injured

An oblique strain will keep Jeff McNeil sidelined to start the 2025 season. Now, New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has to figure out whose name to write on the lineup card at second base on Opening Day – March 27 – when his team takes the field in Houston against the Astros.

Will it be Brett Baty, a top Mets prospect ahead of the 2023 season – the year he made his MLB debut and played in 108 games?

Or will it be Luisangel Acuna, the No. 7 prospect in the Mets system, who has a ton of talent and impressed in a late-season call-up in 2024?

Or will it be someone else, with Baty or Acuna on the roster as utility players?

McNeil, a former National League batting champion, isn’t expected to miss much time in the regular season. He should be out three to four weeks in all, and McNeil told reporters on Thursday in Florida that the injury is minor.

“Definitely a little frustrating,” he said, per MLB.com. “I felt like I was swinging the bat really well. The spring training swing was feeling good. I was excited. But just a minor hiccup right here, nothing I can’t get through. So get through this and build back up and hopefully feel good again.”

The Mets already have lost Nick Madrigal to a shoulder injury for the season. He was signed in the offseason to add infield depth. Now, Mendoza needs to go one layer deeper on the major league roster.

But if the Mets don’t have a starting infield spot for Acuna, the team might think it’s best to keep Acuna, 23, at Triple-A Syracuse to give him every day at-bats.

At Syracuse last season, Acuna hit .258 in 131 games, posting seven homers, 50 RBIs and 40 stolen bases.

So far this spring, Acuna is hitting .231 in 12 games with two RBIs. Baty has a .370 average with two home runs in five RBIs in 11 games.

Mendoza has a decision to make with the Mets’ opener just two weeks away.

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