Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
According to Tim Britton of the Athletic, the New York Mets will not be activating Jed Lowrie off the injured list for tomorrow’s first game of the upcoming homestand, as previously speculated. Lowrie will instead remain with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse on a rehab assignment.
Lowrie, 35, signed a two-year, $20MM deal with the Mets this past offseason, and has yet to play a big-league game in the orange and blue. The switch-hitting infielder sat out the entirety of spring training with a capsule sprain in his left knee, and despite scratching 150 games in back-to-back years with the Oakland Athletics for the first time in his career, Lowrie is set to continue to receive at-bats in the minors, with the Mets likely to re-assess his condition following the conclusion of their weekend series with the Miami Marlins.
Lowrie, a previous client of Brodie Van Wagenen and CAA Sports, has hit .272/.356/.448 across the past two seasons, working primarily at second base. He has just one hit through his first 16 at-bats with Syracuse, and is just 2 for 23 on the whole since he first began rehabbing on April 28. Prior to the current IL stint, Lowrie had last been sidelined for extended time in August of 2016 with a bunion on his left foot.
This development (or lack thereof) gives third baseman Todd Frazier a little more breathing room through the weekend. The veteran, who was presumed to lose playing time following the team’s decision to sign Lowrie in January, has struggled to make a case for himself thus far at the plate, hitting just .143/.160/.265 through his first 50 plate appearances. He is due to make $9MM in the second and final year of the two-year contract he signed prior to 2018.
In any case, Newsday‘s Tim Healey recently reported that Lowrie’s return will not mark the end of Frazier’s tenure on the roster, with the team reportedly citing his defense and leadership as merits for remaining on the 25-man roster.
By process of elimination, the most likely roster casualty would seemingly be either J.D. Davis or Keon Broxton (if it is, in fact, a position player). Between the two reserves, Davis would seemingly outsource his role as the resident power-hitting third baseman to Frazier while burning his final minor league option. Broxton, who owns a -0.6 bWAR and .394 OPS, could be designated for assignment if his struggles continue.
