Prior to Monday’s double header against the Braves, the Mets placed Wilmer Flores on the disabled list with a tight lower back. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said that newly acquired Jose Bautista will play a good amount of third base in Wilmer’s absence, Laura Albanese of Newsday reports.
Bautista, 37, has been great since being acquired by the Mets. He has gone 4-for-7 with a double and a clutch RBI, and as the Mets are going to Atlanta, the team that dropped him after just 12 games, he will surely be out looking for revenge.
Flores, 26, is having a down year offensively but had been heating up before his injury. On the season, he’s hitting .248/.320/.398 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 128 plate appearances. “Lower back tightness” doesn’t sound like the worst injury (certainly not the worst back injury a Met infielder has sustained in recent years), so hopefully he does not miss too much time.
If he does miss more than 10 days, the Mets have good short-term options at third base with Bautista, slick-fielding Luis Guillorme, and utility man Phillip Evans.
