Jeff McNeil hasn’t really been here before.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza kept McNeil out of the starting lineup again Tuesday night for the team’s 4-2 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field.
McNeil had briefly returned to the lineup during the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Phillies on Sunday in London and went 2-for-4 after sitting the previous four games.
The Mets had faced four straight lefty starters in those four games that McNeil sat, and he returned against righty Taijuan Walker on Sunday.
And with a lefty on the mound Tuesday in Jesus Luzardo, McNeil was back on the bench.
Jose Iglesias started at second base instead.
“It’s something I’m not really used to,” McNeil told The Post after the game. “But the team has been playing well this last week. Working on some things, had a good game the other day, and be back at it tomorrow.”
Mendoza said it’s not just a lefty-righty platoon, despite how it appears.
“No, not really,” Mendoza said before Tuesday’s game. “I talked to him, knowing that we were going to face two lefties in these first two games of the series. I said ‘You’re gonna play against one.’ I got Iglesias, who’s playing well against lefties today, and then there’s a good chance that Jeff plays [Wednesday] against a lefty.”
McNeil did get a chance on Tuesday, though.
Trailing 3-2 in the seventh inning with a runner on first and one out, McNeil pinch hit for Iglesias with Marlins right-hander Anthony Bender on the mound.
But the Marlins subsequently replaced Bender with southpaw Andrew Nardi, and McNeil promptly struck out.
Mendoza had previously said during that four-game stretch that he was sitting McNeil to “work on some things,” and later acknowledged that the break was “mental” as well.
“Good relationship [with Mendoza],” McNeil said. “Keeps letting me know that we’re gonna need me to be me. Just trying to get back to that.”
McNeil has gotten off to a brutal start to the season, hitting just .231/.298/.322 with a .620 OPS.
He won the batting title just two years ago, when he finished the 2022 season hitting .326/.382/.454 with an .836 OPS.
But he regressed last year, and has fallen off a cliff this year.
Iglesias, meanwhile, is hitting .435/.480/.522 with a 1.022 OPS in 25 plate appearances.
He went 1-for-1 with a hit-by-pitch Tuesday.
He is notably pulling the ball a career-high 40 percent of his batted balls, according to FanGraphs, and a career-low 20 percent of batted balls are line drives.
McNeil actually has better splits against lefties than righties, owning a .265 average against southpaws compared to just .214 against righties.
“I’m the kind of player, even when I won the batting title, I think I hit under .200 for one month,” McNeil said. “At any point I can get back to hitting.”
