At the Major League level, with Jose Reyes playing every day, there has been debate over whether Dominic Smith should be sent down to Triple-A to get the at-bats he needs to develop.

It’s a debate the Mets were having not too long ago with respect to Luis Guillorme.

Entering the 2018 season, the Mets added Guillorme to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.  It was an understandable decision because even with his glove alone, Guillorme was a promising prospect.  While Mets fans have seen his catching Adeiny Hechavarria‘s bat countless times, there have been other remarkable defensive plays:

Mainly due to his defense, MLB Pipeline rated Guillorme as the Mets 11th best prospect. MMN, Baseball Prospectus, and Baseball America rated him tenth.  Generally speaking, the consensus was he was more than Major League ready defensibly, but it was his bat that was holding him back.  Given his worth ethic and his tools, there was a belief Guillorme could be a utility player or more at the Major League level.  For example, Baseball America said of him:

Guillorme hardly ever pulls the ball and has bottom-of-the-scale power, but he could develop an average hit tool because he works deep counts, hits the ball hard consistently and uses the whole field. As a lefthanded batter who brings a plus glove to shortstop, second base or third base, Guillorme is a shoo-in for a utility infielder role. If his bat develops, he could be a second-division regular, possibly at second base for the Mets, where no long-term solution is apparent.

Due to the injuries at the Major League level, Guillorme was called-up to the majors before he was ready offensively.  Worse yet, he played sparingly, which is not a situation conducive to improving as a young player.

From May 9 until June 26, Guillorme started in only 13 of the 42 games he was on the Major League roster. During that stretch, Guillorme would hit just .172/.250/.207.  Before getting sent down, Guillorme would go 0-for-12, albeit with four walks, in the final ten games he played before his demotion.  With some players getting healthy, Guillorme was sent back down to Triple-A where he was able to work on things and further develop as the hitter.

In the 17 games since returning to Las Vegas, Guillorme is hitting .328/.392/.433 with four doubles, a homer, and eight RBI.  He has reached base safely in 15 of the 17 games he has played, and he has three three-hit games under his belt.  This is exactly what he needs to be doing to re-establish himself in the Mets organization after he struggled when put in a near-impossible situation to thrive and development during his time in the majors.

Where Guillorme goes from here remains to be seen.  However, one thing we see now and have seen throughout his professional career is this is a player with an understanding of the strike zone, an ability to make contact, and hit the ball hard.  This means he has tools the Mets can hone and improve.  Given Guillorme’s work ethic and his getting back to work instead of sulking after the demotion, we should see Guillorme not only force his way back to the majors, but also perform much better next time around.