2025 NRI Preview: Joey Meneses

The Mets have welcomed a long-time foe to camp, as Joey Meneses signed a deal with the Mets in late November after a three-year stint with the Washington Nationals.

Meneses originally signed with the Braves back in 2011 and never broke into the majors with them. He became a free agent in 2017 and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent the 2021 campaign in the Boston Red Sox system and then joined the Nationals in 2022.

He made his major league debut at 30 years old with Washington against the Mets on Aug. 2, 2022. He notched his first hit, a solo home run, in that game and went on to have an excellent rookie season, hitting .324/.367/.563 with a 164 OPS+ and 1.0 bWAR.

Meneses played a full season in 2023 and was by most metrics almost exactly a league-average batter, as he slashed .275/.321/.401 with a 100 OPS+ and a 0.5 bWAR. Last season was his first down year in the majors with his OPS dropping to .593.

Meneses had some visa issues, which have delayed his arrival to Mets camp. Things have been cleared, however, and the first thing he did was face Brandon Sproat in live batting practice. Menses went on to strikeout in three pitches, but we also saw what Sproat did to the Nationals, so maybe this is just Sproat’s thing (picking on current and former National players).

As of Saturday afternoon, Meneses has registered seven at-bats this spring. He went 0-for-2 in his Mets’ spring debut March 3, but is 2-for-5 with a double through his last two games.

Meneses will be competing to be the backup first baseman on the Mets. The main person in front of him right now on the depth chart is Jared Young, who has seen a lot of early action this spring. Beyond Young, there is Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos, and Jesse Winker. There’s a lot that Joey needs to cut through.

Now that Joey is here, we’ll be looking to see how much playing time he gets, if he’s hitting more like his 2022, 2023 self, and honestly if he wants to stay with the Mets after spring training if he doesn’t get a roster spot. Meneses gives the Mets valuable depth that is very familiar with the NL East, and we’re hoping he has a great camp!

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