Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil to start in 2022 All-Star Game

CHICAGO — Jeff McNeil is having one heck of a week.

From being voted in by players for the All-Star Game on Sunday, to welcoming the birth of his first-born child on Wednesday, McNeil was honored with another feat on Saturday.

McNeil was named the starting second baseman for Tuesday’s All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced on Saturday. Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the original starter, selected by fan-voting, but he will not play in the All-Star Game due to injury.

As such, McNeil will become the first Mets All-Star starter since 2013. David Wright and Matt Harvey started for the Mets in the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field.

“It’s been a pretty fantastic week,” McNeil said. “The birth of our son. All-Star Game. Being named an All-Star starter — not really how I wanted to be named All-Star starter with someone going down. I do wish the best to Jazz and hopefully he gets back on the field soon.

“But super excited for the opportunity to be in the game.”

Pete Alonso, Starling Marte and Edwin Diaz also earned All-Star recognitions this season alongside McNeil.

McNeil said he found out he was a starter about an hour before the Mets’ doubleheader against the Cubs kicked off on Saturday. Mets manager Buck Showalter walked over to McNeil’s locker and informed the second baseman that Chisholm would not be able to play.

McNeil expressed displeasure in the initial All-Star fan-voting results.

“I was a little disappointed in how the voting went, not even getting the chance to be the starter,” he said. “I think that was a little unfortunate. But I ended up getting voted in by the players. I was super happy about that. But I was definitely disappointed I didn’t have the chance to be a starter first.”

This will be McNeil’s second-career All-Star selection and first since 2019.