Brad Penner/USA Today

One of the few brights spots in the Mets 5-8 start to the 2020 season is the unexpected play of 21-year-old Andres Gimenez.

The first surprise was Gimenez making the Opening Day roster, a move that certainly wouldn’t have happened without a 30-man roster to start the shortened season. Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen mentioned speed and defensive ability when asked why Gimenez was on the roster, the type of player you’re more apt to carry when you have an extended pool.

Gimenez has shown the speed (two stolen bases) and the defense (he’s played four games each at shortstop, second base, and third base) while playing in 12 of the Mets first 13 games.

On top of that, the rookie has held his own at the plate, hitting .320/.346/.400, 118 OPS+ with only two strikeouts in 25 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter has held his own against lefty pitching (of course, we are talking about extremely small samples here), going 3-for-10.

Coming into the season, Gimenez had seen hit prospect standing drop a little nationally. For example, he went from being the No. 38 overall prospect pre-2019 in baseball acoording to Baseball Prospectus to No. 90 overall in their pre-2020 list. Part of that drop in rankings – and drop from Mets top prospect to No. 2 or No.3 depending on the publication – was his offensive struggles in 2019, he hit .250/.309/.387 in the regular season for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

However, I would argue (and did in at least one article this offseason) that those numbers weren’t as bad as they looked. First off, those numbers gave him a 105 wRC+ in the Eastern League, meaning he was above average offensively while playing superb defense and was four years younger than the league average age. Also, as I’ve noted a few times, Gimenez was battling a nagging injury early in the season and was working on a swing adjustment.

When Gimenez was 100% healthy and familiar with the changes in his swing, he tore up the Arizona Fall League. He led the league with his .371 average and .999 OPS in 18 games. For some reference, big-time prospects like Royce Lewis, Julio Rodriguez, Seth Beer, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh all played in the AFL last year.

Back to Gimenez right now and what the Mets are going to do going forward. Starting shortstop Amed Rosario has missed the last two games with tighness in his left quad. We don’t know the extend of the injury, but Rosario hasn’t been placed on the injured list indicating he might be able to play on Friday following the off day.

Before the injury for Rosario, he was struggling at the plate to the tune of a .244/.244/.366 slash line. He has yet to walk in 41 plate appearances over 10 games. The 24-year-old is coming off a solid 2019 though, in which he hit .287/.323/.427 and posted a 2.7 fWAR.

Keep in mind that we are talking about really really small sample sizes so far this season and both of these players are still young, but the question remains how much do the Mets play Gimenez going forward? And where do they play him?

Gimenez has shown that he can play third and second base, despite shortstop being his natural home. The good news for Gimenez is that Robinson Cano is currently on the injured list with groin tightness. Cano expects to be back on Aug. 14 when eligible, but that still potentially gives Gimenez a week at second base to show what he’s got. Jeff McNeil is also dealing with a right intercostal strain that’s kept him out of the last two games.

In the short-term, it looks like their could be opportunities for both Rosario and Gimenez to be in the lineup. Let’s say though that Gimenez is still playing well, Rosario is not hitting, and Cano comes off the IL, what do the Mets do?

Then starting to talk long-term – earlier to talk about this, but I know it’s entered some Mets fans brains – do the Mets again explore moving Rosario to center field if Gimenez shows he’s a major league starter at shortstop?

Add into the mix that J.D. Davis has looked much better at third base than left field this year. Davis, McNeil, and Gimenez have all shown versatility, thankfully for first-time manager Luis Rojas.

Gimenez playing well enough right now to have us pondering these questions is certainly a good thing and hopefully that’s a trend that continues.