The New York Mets have had more than enough time to get a feel for what Luis Guillorme brings to the table. This season should be the time to see exactly what they’ve got in the 26-year-old.

Contact hitting, an uncanny aversion to striking out, and solid defense at a variety of infield positions is quite the resume for a young ballplayer. Those characteristics also happen to fit the Mets’ needs for a versatile bench player to a tee.

Over his first few cups of coffee in the majors, Guillorme struggled, hitting .202/.268/.225 (42 wRC+) over 97 plate appearances from the start of 2018 through July 2019. A far cry from his minors stat line (.289/.368/.350 with just 314 strikeouts in 2,599 PA), for sure.

Alas, with regular playing time, things began to fall into place for the Venezuelan-born, Florida-raised infielder. From his recall on August 5 of that season through his sporadic but fruitful 2020 season, we’ve seen a different, more confident player emerge.

In 115 plate appearances over that span, Guillorme’s hit .313/.407/.448 with a healthy 13.9% walk rate and 137 wRC+. That *checks notes* will play.

Combine his ongoing offensive development at the MLB level with his pristine defense (cumulative +2 OAA at second, third, and shortstop last season in just 141 total innings played in the field), and the Mets have themselves quite the cog in Guillorme.

Without the designated hitter, New York’s reserve corps figures to be a well-populated portion of their roster. Getting Guillorme reps — heck, even finding him an active roster spot heading into the season — could pose an issue if he’s headed for a bench role.

Assuming the team brings center fielder George Springer into the fold — moving Brandon Nimmo into left field and Dominic Smith into a roving, as-close-to-full-time role as the team can muster — that would presumably leave Jeff McNeil at second base and J.D. Davis at third.

Though, if Davis can’t rediscover the form that vaulted him into relevance in 2019, things could shake out quite differently.

Sticking McNeil at third base (cumulative +1 OAA at third over three MLB seasons) and, say, Guillorme at second (+1 OAA at second last season) would improve the Mets’ infield defense drastically — a major talking point of the team this winter and a necessity for a team leaning on their starting pitching.

Davis would be left as the odd-man-out in that scenario, but healthy internal competition should, at the very least, light a fire underneath the ridiculously talented offensive profile the 27-year-old has at his disposal. Hopefully, that alone would keep him nipping at the heels of the lineup.

If Guillorme’s offensive uptick is here to stay, and his defense remains top-shelf, New York could have themselves a bonafide roster stalwart. And if he continues to perform, he should be playing as often as possible.

Though, everything starts with the Mets giving him an opportunity, of course.