How Jose Iglesias Saved the Mets Season

Raise your hand if you thought Jose Iglesias was going to be the MVP of the New York Mets through the first half of the 2024 season.

Anyone?

No, seriously. Anyone?

Nobody around here did either. Iglesias, 34, hasn’t spent more than one year with a single club since all the way back in 2018. He’s historically been a light-hitting middle infielder who can steal some bases and play decent defense, but his bat has never come close to where it’s at this year.

Iglesias is a pure vibes guy, who has historically been popular in every clubhouse he’s been a part of. This year, he released a song called ‘OMG’ under his stage name Candelita and he performed it for his teammates and eventually at the MLB All-Star Game. How can you not love him already?

The 12-year journeyman signed a minor league contract with the Mets in early December of this past offseason. He was not expected to play a crucial role on the big league roster, but we’re at the halfway point of the regular season and he’s one of the most valuable players on the team.

How did we get here? Is this sustainable? Is he actually saving the Mets season? Let’s dive in.

Jose Iglesias: Mets Savior

Okay, so he’s not singlehandedly saving the Mets season, but he’s seriously been a force at the plate. He’s not going to earn any MVP votes, but I don’t think any Mets fans will argue the fact that he’s played a big part in why the club is still in contention. At 51-48, the Mets currently occupy the third NL Wild Card spot.

Iglesias has only appeared in 34 games so far, but they’ve been action packed. He’s got 12 extra-base hits with 17 runs driven in and 16 more scored. Shockingly, he’s only struck out nine times (five walks) in 100 plate appearances while boasting a line of .387/.430/.591. Not to mention, he’s also sporting a 1.021 OPS and 192 OPS+, suggesting that he’s 92% above league-average so far.

Since his first game of the year on May 31, Iglesias has the fourth-lowest K% in all of baseball (min. 100 PA), the top batting average in the league, fourth-highest OBP and sixth-highest wRC+. This is uncharted territory for him, as he hasn’t been above-average in a full season since all the way back in 2013 when he finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

We’ve seen these 40-game benders from Iglesias before, most recently when he hit .356 in 23 games for the Red Sox in 2021 and for the 2020 Orioles when he hit .373 in 39 games. He’s got hot streaks in him for sure, but this is the first time his hot streak is propelling a team into the postseason.

Iglesias has started 24 games for the Mets. In those games, he’s already recorded nine multi-hit performances, highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance against the Rockies on July 14.

Stealing At-Bats From Jeff McNeil

More than anything, Iglesias’s resurgence is the perfect way to replace Jeff McNeil’s ailing production in the Mets’ lineup. McNeil, a two-time All-Star, is having easily the worst season of his big league career.

Through 92 games, the 32-year-old is hitting .221 with a .622 OPS and 79 OPS+. He’s got the 11th-lowest SLG and wRC+ in all of baseball this year, as well as the ninth-lowest OBP and fourth-lowest BABIP.

Iglesias’s performance has already led to McNeil getting less playing time at second base. Fortunately, Starling Marte is on the shelf with a bad knee, which has opened up some playing time in right field for the utilityman. In his last 10 games, McNeil is hitting .286 with three home runs and 10 RBI. He may be turning things around, but the emergence of Iglesias is going to complicate his fit going forward.

Closing Thoughts

Iglesias is not the sole savior of the 2024 Mets, but he’s brought a positive vibe and a scorching hot bat with him. The best bet is for the club to continue to roll with him in the every day starting lineup until he proves he can’t handle it anymore.

The Mets have tried to give playing time to aging players elsewhere on the roster and it failed. Omar Narvaez, Joey Wendle and Jorge Lopez are three examples of players that just didn’t work out. So far, Iglesias looks to be the sparkplug the Mets have needed, even if the production is coming from an unlikely source.

I’ll leave you with this: prior to Iglesias’s promotion, the Mets were 24-33. Since he came up? 27-15. This shows that a rock-solid clubhouse guy can go a long, long way to helping a team succeed.