The New York Mets made a handful of roster moves ahead of Friday’s series opener in Milwaukee, recalling infielder Adeiny Hechavarria and demoting first-baseman Dominic Smith, as well as transferring right-hander Drew Smith (elbow) to the 60-day injured list, as per a team announcement.
Hechavarria, 30, is hitting .348/.382/.446 with nine doubles, 17 RBIs, and 14 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse.
Mets skipper Mickey Callaway spoke about the situation on Friday afternoon, via SNY.
“We feel at this time Adeiny can really come up and help us defensively. He’s going to allow us to double-switch at a lot of different positions,” Callaway said. “At this time, we felt it was a necessary decision for us to make.”
Jacob Resnick of MMO pointed out shortly after the move was announced that Hechavarria had the opportunity to opt-out of his minor-league deal on May 1, likely factoring into the decision to bring him up.
Hechavarria will now make the prorated portion of his $3 million base salary.
Smith, 23, has shone in limited opportunities with the Mets this season. After making the club out of Spring Training under the short-lived guise of being a platoon partner with Pete Alonso, Smith has racked up a .333/.459/.400 slash line with two doubles, four RBIs, and seven strikeouts in 37 plate appearances.
He’s offered an able-gloved alternative for Callaway to call upon when Alonso needs a spell and has fared well as the only left-handed pinch-hitting option on the Mets’ bench (3-for-12, double, two strikeouts).
We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
