McNeil, Morris named to FSL South All Star Team

The Florida State League announced the 2015 FSL All Star Teams on Monday and Jeff McNeil and Akeel Morris will represent the St. Lucie Mets on the South Division Team.

Outfielder Michael Conforto and starting pitcher Robert Gsellman were also voted to the team but they were promoted to Double-A Binghamton at the end of May and will not participate.

McNeil, the Mets second baseman, is leading the entire league in hitting with a .344 batting average through Sunday. He is second in the FSL with 66 hits. McNeil has hit safely in 11 consecutive games and he had a nine-game hitting streak earlier in the season.

The 23-year-old McNeil is from Santa Barbara, Calif. He was selected by the Mets in the 12^th round of the 2013 draft out of Long Beach State. McNeil is in his second season with St. Lucie. He was promoted to St. Lucie in 2014 halfway through the season after he earned a trip to the South Atlantic League All Star Game while playing for the Savannah Sand Gnats in the first half of 2014.

Morris, the Mets closer, is having a stellar season. He is 10 for 10 in save chances and has six six-out saves. He has allowed just two runs in in his last 22 innings and he has a 1.59 ERA. In 28.1 innings Morris has given up just nine hits while striking out 39 batters.

The 22-year-old Morris hails from St. Thomas of the Virgin Islands. He is the only St. Lucie Met who is a current member of the New York Mets’ 40-man roster. Morris was put on the 40-man roster after a spectacular 2014 season in Savannah in which he allowed just four earned runs the whole season.

Like McNeil, Morris was a South Atlantic League All Star in 2014.

Conforto was promoted to Binghamton on May 29. He hit .283 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs in 46 games with St. Lucie. He was a two-time FSL Player of the Week.

Gsellman went 6-0 with a 1.76 ERA in eight starts with the Mets. He would have been a candidate to start the All Star Game in his home park but he was sent up to Binghamton on May 28.

The South Team is made up of players from Bradenton (5), Charlotte (6), Fort Myers (3), Jupiter (7), Palm Beach (2) and St. Lucie (2).

The North Team consists of players from Brevard County (4), Clearwater (4), Daytona (4), Dunedin (2), Lakeland (4) and Tampa (7).

For the first time ever, players were allowed to vote for the All Star Teams. Other voters were the coaching staffs, broadcasters and official scorers. Voters were not allowed to vote for players of the teams they are associated with.

The 2015 Florida State League All Star Game will be hosted by the Mets at Tradition Field on Saturday, June 20. Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a home run derby. The game starts at 7 p.m. and there will be a postgame fireworks show.