The New York Mets will be without outfielder Jay Bruce for their upcoming weekend series with the Philadelphia Phillies as he takes a leave of absence to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
As per Kristie Ackert of The New York Daily News, Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway said, “they would likely call up a position player to take his spot, but they had not decided yet.”
The team will need to address the matter before tomorrow’s 7:10 PM game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Callaway and the Mets’ general manager, Sandy Alderson, will certainly have their hands full making the decision as to whom will get that call.
With the Mets having no clear-cut favorite and all of the outfielders on the 40-man roster already with the major-league club, let’s take a look at who might fill the short-term hole.
Infielder Gavin Cecchini is one name that had been floated as a replacement. Cecchini, 24, has been in a bit of a funk lately since beginning the Triple-A campaign on an absolute tear (.347/.402/.547 over 20 games in April compared to .176/.200/.294 over nine games in May).
He is no longer a candidate to land the promotion though after he was hit by a pitch in Las Vegas’ game last night and needed to be helped off of the field (x-rays Thursday).
Bryce Brentz would have been a likely candidate with his .271/.336/.542 slash line with eight doubles, seven homers and 21 RBI in 107 at-bats this season for Las Vegas. The only catch to that promising notion is the fact that Brentz, 29, broke his toe during Sunday’s game with Vegas and is expected to miss at least a month.
One option would be to bring up utility player Ty Kelly, though he’s not on the 40-man roster. Kelly can play second, third, or as a corner outfielder.
The versatile Kelly has hit .300/.374/.573 with four doubles, four triples and six home runs for the Las Vegas 51s this season. Kelly’s gaudy slugging percentage leads the team and ranks fourteenth in the Pacific Coast League.
There are certainly other options, but Kelly seems to be tailor-made for these types of trips between Las Vegas and the big club. He plays multiple positions, hits well enough, and, to be honest, he’s been here (MLB) before. For Kelly to be added to the 40-man roster, though, a corresponding move would need to be made.
Matt den Dekker could be considered, though he isn’t on the 40-man roster either. As good as his glove is, his offensive production (.262/.296/.505 in 103 at-bats with Las Vegas this season) simply doesn’t justify the move for the sole purpose of being available this weekend. Highly unlikely.
Photo by Ed Delany
And of course, there’s the surprise candidate that is probably a longshot but could have an upside to it. Dominic Smith is hitting well at Triple-A after missing all of Spring Training with a quad issue he suffered in his first Grapefruit League at-bat. He also happens to be on the Mets’ active roster.
In 115 at-bats this year for Vegas, the Mets’ former first-round draft pick (2013) is hitting .278/.390/.417 with eight doubles, a triple, two home runs, and twelve runs batted in.
No, he doesn’t play the outfield. But with the presence of Brandon Nimmo, Juan Lagares, the waking-up Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes presumably back over the weekend, as well as Wilmer Flores, who can also play some outfield in a pinch, the team may not necessarily need an outfielder-by-trade to be called up.
Bringing up Smith to, at the very least, get some pinch-hitting appearances could be a proactive way to give him another chance to learn the “right way” of doing things at the major league level. He wouldn’t be up for long, even if he hit home runs in every at-bat he took.
This wouldn’t be the safe move to make, as any of the other options would serve more than just a morale-building purpose and now is really not the time to be tinkering with moving parts (or is it?), but it’s an option, for sure.
At this point, the most likely option is utility man Phillip Evans.
Evans, 25, made the Mets’ Opening Day roster out of Spring Training but garnered only three fruitless at-bats. This season for Las Vegas, Evans is slashing .240/.315/.440 with five doubles, five homers, and 16 RBI.
The right-handed hitting Evans can play shortstop, second and third base, and got some reps in the outfield this past spring during Grapefruit League play. He has also played two games in the outfield for Las Vegas this year and he’s on the 40-man roster.
