Jeff McNeil and Luis Severino were back at Citi Field on Friday night for the first time since leaving Queens, and the Mets marked the return of both former players with tribute videos before the series opener against the Athletics.
The moment mattered because McNeil spent eight seasons in New York, made two All-Star teams and built a résumé that ran from sixth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 to a batting title in 2022, when he hit.326. Over those eight seasons, he posted a.284/.351/.428 slash line with 80 home runs and 367 RBI, numbers that reflected the mix of offense and defense he gave the club while becoming one of the more recognizable faces of the roster.
McNeil had said before Friday's game that he played hard, with passion every day, and cared about winning and doing well. He also said he wanted to be known as a player who played the game the right way, gave it everything he had and enjoyed being in the Mets organization. That was the sentiment the tribute video tried to capture, even as the evening unfolded against his new team, the Athletics, after he was traded there this offseason for right-hander Yordan Rodriguez.
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Severino's return carried its own weight. He left the Mets after the 2024 season and signed with the Athletics that offseason after going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts for New York. His previous October work also gave the return a longer memory: in 2018, he made three postseason starts, going 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA over 16.2 innings.
The pair's departures fit into a broader re-tool for the Mets, who also saw Pete Alonso leave to Baltimore in free agency and Brandon Nimmo traded to the Rangers. That left Friday's opener at Citi Field as more than another date on the schedule; it was a first look at how much of the recent core has been moved out of Queens in one winter, and how quickly the emotional reset has arrived.
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The next question is how the crowd will keep responding when familiar names come back wearing other colors. On Friday, the cheers and the videos answered that part plainly.
