Ed Delany/MMO

11 days ago, the Mets were dealing with a roster crunch as Jed Lowrie was set to return off the IL for the first time this season. An injured hamstring prevented Lowrie from ever making it to Queens and since then, there have been four key position players that have joined him on the IL.

It really is a shame that Lowrie didn’t make it back, as the Mets most recent injuries freed up a lot of playing time in the infield.

Now the Mets are left with no good options to start at second base, as Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil both went on the IL on the same day. Today it was Adeiny Hechavarria that got the start at second and Luis Guillorme was recalled from Syracuse to give the Mets more infield depth.

While Hechavarria is a fine defensive player and does feature a major league-caliber bat, he is not bringing the same offensive pop that the Mets hope to get from their second baseman. One outside the box move the Mets could make to get their best offensive lineup, would be to start Todd Frazier at second base.

Now Frazier has only played two games and eight innings at second base in his major league career, so the position is a little foreign to him. Still, Frazier has the hands, range and baseball IQ to be able to make the transition rather seamlessly. Especially if he is only playing there for a limited basis.

Frazier was a college shortstop at Rutgers and even played a little bit of shortstop on his last rehab assignment to be the emergency shortstop for the Mets this year.

Because of that experience, Frazier should be able to handle the middle infield duties of playing second base. Also, consider some of the other players that are playing second base in the majors right now.

Max Muncy, Mike Moustakas, and Travis Shaw are all third baseman that have made the transition to play second base. Heck, the Mets ran Daniel Murphy out there for five years as the everyday second baseman and he made it work.

If the Mets played Frazier at second, they could then start J.D. Davis at third base every day, while leaving a corner outfield spot open for players like Rajai Davis, Carlos Gomez or even Dominic Smith. This would give the Mets their best offensive lineup, while waiting for some of their big bats to come off the IL.

The Mets defense is already going to better now than it has been all year, as Juan Lagares will be giving the Mets a huge boost now that he is playing center field every day with Bradon Nimmo on the IL.

As Frazier transitions into the latter stages of his career, he should welcome any opportunity to increase his versatility as that will keep him in the lineup. And Frazier may even surprise us all and turn into a really good defensive second baseman, like Moustakas has been for the Brewers this year.

The Mets won’t be able to feast on the Nationals bullpen forever, so with some of their best hitters banged up, Frazier starting at second might just be the best way to manufacture some offense over the next couple of weeks.