The Mets have hit another lull as of late and are falling behind in the division at a rapid pace as they continue to fall to division foes. Despite Brandon Nimmo heroics salvaging the final game of a three-game set against the Braves, the Amazins have found themselves losers of five of their last six to their division rivals. 

After the Mets were shut out and no-hit for most of Tuesday night’s game, as the club came out looking flat again on a rainy day in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Phillies’ offense exploded for four runs in the fifth inning, and that was all she wrote for the Mets. Click here to read more on the Mets’ disappointing performance.

New York will look to take one from the Phillies on Thursday with José Quintana going against former Met Taijuan Walker at 6:40 p.m.

Latest Mets News

LHP Brooks Raley officially has a UCL strain. He’ll be shut down for two weeks in hopes of avoiding surgery, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. For more info on the injury, click here.

RHP Drew Smith felt a pinch in his shoulder, a slight setback. He’ll continue throwing but isn’t ready to come off the IL, also per Anthony DiComo.

Tylor Megill is with the Mets in Philadelphia, but not active, per Mike Puma of the NY Post. The plan is for Megill to either start Monday or Tuesday. For more info on Megill’s status, click here.

The Mets are expected to give Elian Peña, a highly touted infielder from the Dominican Republic, $5 million to sign with the club when the international signing period opens on Jan 15, 2025 per Baseball America. To learn more about the signing, click here!

Mrs. Met has been nominated for the Mascot Hall of Fame.

RHP José Buttó was optioned to Triple-A, while RHP Yohan Ramírez and INF Joey Wendle were DFA’d by the club. The Mets promoted RHP Grant Hartwig, LHP Joey Lucchesi and INF Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse as well.

Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat went five innings of no-run ball while only giving up three hits and two walks in his first Double-A start. 

Mets owner Steve Cohen posted a now deleted tweet that hinted at the Mets being sellers at the deadline, “All in the future, not much we can do until trade deadline.”

Latest MLB News

The Texas Rangers transferred RHP Max Scherzer from the 15-day to 60-day Injured List as he rehabs from back surgery. 

Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco was suspended for 10 games after being caught with a sticky substance on his glove during Tuesday’s game. 

The Cincinnati Reds placed LHP Nick Lodolo on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to 5/12, with a left groin strain. They recalled LHP Sam Moll from Triple-A Louisville.

The White Sox acquired OF Corey Julks from the Houston Astros and sent RHP Luis Rodríguez to Houston in return.

The Los Angeles Angels DFA’d LHP Amir Garret and recalled RHP Davis Daniel from Triple-A Salt Lake.

The San Francisco Giants signed catcher Curt Casali to a one-year Major League contract.

Latest on MMO

Mets expected to give out largest international bonus pool contract.

Brandon Sproat shines in Double-A debut!

Tylor Megill expected to make his return this weekend.

On This Date in Mets History

1983: Darryl Strawberry hits his first career home run, he would go on to hit 252 in his Mets career and 335 in total.

Birthdays: Jerrod Riggan (50), Frank Seminara (57)

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Iglesias, who was playing back, sprinted in, barehanded it, and made a seemingly impossible throw to Prince Fielder at first while almost fully horizontal with the ground to nab Phegley.

I still don’t know how he did it. 

Is it the best play ever? Of course not. But it’s easily the play I think about the most.

Joey Wendle has committed three errors on the season. He’s only had 32 fielding chances. It’s the most on the team besides Omar Narváez, and it’s different because he’s a catcher. Tomás Nido has two, and Jeff McNeil is the only other non-catcher to have more than one, and he’s had almost four times as many fielding chances as Wendle.

It’s not even just the errors. On the first game of the series vs. the Chicago Cubs just last week, Wendle infamously tried to turn a double play instead of throwing home, where he would have easily thrown out the runner. It was a softly hit ball, and the batter was fast. It’s almost more inexcusable than the errors because it’s a mental mistake. The Cubs tied the game and would go on to win, largely because of the Wendle misplay. His advanced defensive metrics back up that he’s been below average.

There’s a pretty good argument that Wendle has single-handedly cost the Mets multiple games this early in the season with his glove alone. For a team like the Mets who will probably float around .500 for most of the season and hope to get hot in September to grab a Wild Card spot, your backup infielder just can’t be giving games away. 

Add in the fact he’s hitting .250/.273/.281 with a measly .554 OPS and 63 OPS+ … and Wendle has probably been the worst all-around player on the Mets in 2024.

The Mets have Iglesias sitting in Triple-A, and he’s coming off a hot week in which he had eight hits and two homers. It’s time to make the call. Iglesias should be in Queens when the Mets open up their series vs. the Braves on Friday.

Obviously, Iglesias is not the same player he was in 2013. When he last played in the big leagues in 2022, he had exactly zero outs above average, ranking in the 45th percentile in baseball. He’s 34, he’s not going to be as good as he was in his early 20s, but he still grades out basically as average.

What he will do is make the routine plays. Wendle hasn’t been able to do that. Tim Healey of Newsday said it best in spring training, tweeting “Jose Iglesias is still an absolute delight to watch play infield.”

He still has enough talent to play a strong infield, even if he doesn’t have the range he had a decade ago.

The reason Joey Wendle is on the roster instead of Mark Vientos is because if he wasn’t, the Mets wouldn’t have anyone capable of playing either middle infield spot besides Francisco Lindor and McNeil. Vientos can’t be his replacement because the Mets need a backup middle infielder. Luisangel Acuña hasn’t performed to warrant a call up, either.

Iglesias will very clearly be a better fielder than Wendle, and he will probably be a noticeably better hitter too.

He’s been hitting well in Triple-A too. He’s slashing .294/.341/.494/.835, which is right about average for the International League. This is following a spring training where he hit .282/.317/.436, a .753 OPS. He can still be an average hitter.

We’ve seen David Stearns be willing to cut his losses early on this season, getting rid of Michael Tonkin and moving Adrian Houser to the bullpen. Wendle left Monday night’s game, thought the team didn’t announce a reason. An injury may have made the decision for Stearns. But injury or not, it’s time to do the same with Wendle. Jose Iglesias is clearly the better option.

The post It’s Time for Jose Iglesias in Queens appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

There was the 0-5 start, then the hot streak, and now we’re in another strange stretch where the bullpen continues to reign supreme, but yet there are notable red flags across the offense and the defense.

We saw the great, the not so great and the confusing sides of the Mets throughout the four-game set against the Chicago Cubs, culminating in a wild rollercoaster of a series finale on Thursday at Citi Field.

All in all, there are a plethora of things to worry about with this team, yet another thrilling finish to earn a series split with the Cubs made those concerns easier to ignore in the moment.

On that note, let’s dive into all the good, the bad and the damn ugly in the latest edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

3 UP

LINDOR’S FLU GAME

Francisco Lindor felt like he was in danger of throwing up or doing No. 2 on the field on Wednesday. That’s how ill the shortstop was before being pulled from the game in the third inning. Still battling sickness on Thursday, Lindor was just well enough to come off the bench. And, thus, the Lindor Flu Game was born. The magic began in the sixth as he hit a two-run double as the pinch-runner to make it a one-run game. The Mets were losing 5-2 prior to that at-bat, by the way. Then, with the game in extra-innings, Lindor truly came up clutch with another two-run double to complete the comeback and give his team a 7-6 walk-off win.

Talk about toughness. Lindor, despite being incredibly sick, operating on little sleep and with zero energy, refused to bail on his team. Instead, he toughed it out and highlighted once more his commitment to this franchise. The Mets needed saving in the series finale, and Lindor defied his own sickness to do exactly that. This is why he’s a star and such an important player. Furthermore, Lindor now owns a .999 OPS batting left-handed over his last 12 games and is starting to look more like himself at the plate.

BULLPEN PROWESS

Where would the Mets be without this bullpen? It is a good question worth asking. This mishmash of a ‘pen has saved the day time and time again, and that was the case once again in this series. Four relievers combined to allow just one run over four innings in the 4-2 win on Tuesday. The bullpen also didn’t allow a run on Wednesday, giving the offense every opportunity to win the game. Then, on Thursday, Jake Diekman, Reed Garrett and Edwin Díaz combined to throw four scoreless innings. Díaz, who gave up two earned runs in the opening game on Monday, pitched two innings on Thursday for the first time since his injury. The bullpen played a huge role in the Mets splitting the series with the Cubs, as they have throughout the team’s 16-15 start.

TIME TO SHINE

Christian Scott‘s moment has arrived. The No. 62 prospect in baseball, per Baseball America, and the No. 5 prospect in the Mets’ system, has been called up to The Show. Scott is expected to make his major league debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. The right-handed pitcher has been dominant at Triple-A Syracuse, going 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 25 1/3 innings. Scott has the tools and the stuff needed to become a future ace, and his debut will provide a tantalizing taste of what could be to come down the road. It is also the perfect time to call up one of the best pitching prospects in the farm system given Adrian Houser’s continued struggles.

3 DOWN 

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

FEARING THE WORST 

Life is never simple for the Mets. Or easy. Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, reliever Brooks Raley could be at risk of missing the rest of the season. The lefty isn’t recovering from left elbow inflammation as quickly or as well as first hoped, and further opinions are now being sought. The bullpen can’t afford to lose Raley for the rest of the year. Period.

CLUTCHLESS 

The offense continues to be a real concern. In the two losses to the Cubs, the bats combined for just one run, including a shutout on Wednesday. Granted, the lineup did eventually break out in the finale with seven runs. But, even then, Pete Alonso, who is 1-for-his-last-26, struck out with the bases loaded. The Mets left a ton of runners on base throughout this series, and they just aren’t getting the big hits in the big spots. Even with J.D. Martinez in the lineup, this offense doesn’t look clutch consistently enough. That will need to change, and soon.

BASIC ERRORS

Simple mistakes continue to bury this team. It began on Monday when Joey Wendle chose not to throw home in the eighth inning, leading to the Cubs tying the game before going on to win. Wendle struggled defensively again on Thursday as well. Jeff McNeil committed a couple of brain farts in the series finale too, while the stellar Garrett made a mess of a routine groundball. Furthermore, the Mets are now 41-for-42 in stolen bases allowed after permitting five more attempts on Thursday. This team just isn’t getting the fundamentals right, and that isn’t conducive to playing baseball in October.

The post 3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Earn Series Split With Cubs appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Lindor left the game after the bottom of the first inning. In the first inning, Lindor flew out in his first and only at-bat of the game. After his departure, he was replaced at shortstop by Joey Wendle.

Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Mendoza also described the symptoms as something that’s been going around the clubhouse. Since the start of 2022, only three players have played in more games than Lindor. He’s played in 350 games since 2022. Lindor played 161 games in 2022 and 160 games in 2023. Since becoming a Met, he’s only had one stint on the injured list. That was back in 2021, when he missed time due to an oblique strain.

Depending on how much time Lindor misses with the flu, Wendle will more than likely get the chance at shortstop. So far this season, Wendle is slashing .250/.280/.292. Wendle has struggled defensively. On Wednesday, recent shortstop option Zack Short was traded to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations after being DFA’d by New York.

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The triumph was backed by solid contributions from the bullpen, which blanked the Pirates’ offense through 12 outs, nine of them via strikeout.

Jose Quintana got the start for the Mets and allowed just one run on four hits over five innings pitched. The left-hander walked three, and recorded four strikeouts in tossing 93 pitches.

Reed Garrett was the winning pitcher in tonight’s matchup. The reliever impressed with six strikeouts through two innings in relief. He allowed just two baserunners via a walk and a hit.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets’ offense struggled initially, managing just one baserunner through the first six innings. Following sixteen consecutive outs, the team rallied to score three runs in the seventh. Francisco Lindor drew a crucial walk, followed by Pete Alonso‘s single, setting the stage for Joey Wendle‘s game-tying double that knotted the score at 1-1. It was just the outfielder’s 13th plate appearance of the season. He came off the bench after Brett Baty was removed from today’s game in the sixth inning with left hamstring tightness.

The Mets capitalized on a key mistake by Pirates reliever Jose Hernandez, who balked to allow Alonso to score. With momentum on their side, Jeff McNeil delivered an RBI double, extending the lead to the final 3-1.

Jorge Lopez tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning, adding two strikeouts. Drew Smith took the mound in the ninth and earned his first save of the season and the fourth of his career.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Reed Garrett

Reed Garrett is Tuesday’s player of the game after earning his second win of the season. The reliever added six strikeouts in two scoreless frames of relief.

In facing 31 batters this season, Garrett has struck out 17 and has not yet allowed a run this season through four outings. He now leads all of Major League Baseball relievers with 17 strikeouts.

ON DECK

Luis Severino (1-1, 3.00) will take the mound for New York on Wednesday afternoon as the Mets look to sweep the three-game set with Pittsburgh. The Pirates starter will be Falter (1-0, 4.20). SNY will air the game at 1:10 p.m. ET.

The post Garrett, Wendle Lift Mets to 3-1 Win Over Pirates appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

New Hitters

• Harrison Bader: He’s off to a 5-for-26 (.192) start with no extra-base hits, but he’s only had eight at-bats against lefties, whom he’s much better against. He’s played a fine center field.
• Zack Short: Short has been used largely as a pinch runner, and he has one hit in three at-bats.
• Joey Wendle: The 33-year-old, who posted a 50 OPS+ last season, has reached base once (via walk) in eight tries. He also has a glaring error in a clutch spot when playing the field. Wendle and Short have felt redundant, but Wendle so far has been trusted more with starting.
• Tyrone Taylor: Taylor has been the best new hitter Stearns has brought in so far. He’s 7-for-27 (.259) and has a .666 OPS, had a game-winning hit and already has a memorable defensive moment.

The biggest signing, J.D. Martinez, is down in Port St. Lucie getting his swing right and ideally will join the team within the next week or so. There’s been a lot left to be desired with Stearns’ additions on offense so far.

Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

New Pitchers

• Sean Manaea: This is the best signing Stearns has made so far. In two starts, Manaea has allowed one run in 11 innings (0.82 ERA) and has struck out 14. He’s been getting opponents to chase and whiff at really good rates, and he’s limited super hard contact so far.
• Adrian Houser: Acquired via trade, Houser is an end-of-the-rotation guy. He’s had just one start (with another coming tonight), and he looked as such.
• Luis Severino: Severino has been the victim of some tough defense so far, but he’s pitched his way to a 3.60 ERA through two starts. He’s battled injuries much of the last four years, so health will be his primary goal moving forward.
• Jorge López: Despite the hard contact in Atlanta on Monday, López found a way to lock down a big game for the Mets. He’s been used as a B-tier reliever so far, and that’s perfectly fine if he pitches to those expectations this year. Seven base runners in 5.2 innings is less than ideal, but again—expectations aren’t sky high.
• Jake Diekman: Diekman’s allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings… but he’s struggled to find the strike zone, walking three… and three of those four base runners have scored.

The Mets have designated two signings—Michael Tonkin and Yohan Ramirez—for assignment over the last two weeks, and Julio Teheran, who was signed when Tylor Megill went on the injured list, had a rough first outing in Atlanta. He was just designated for assignment, too. Cole Sulser worked an inning in Atlanta, too.

The success of the Mets team—especially their offense—will rely on its starts, but these players will be the difference on if they’re a Wild Card team or not. We’re just 6% of the way through the season. Enjoy!

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Of course, as we made clear last week, results don’t matter in spring training, but there were a couple of worrying trends that emerged for the Mets over the past few days.

Let’s take a look at those, as well as some positives, in our latest edition of spring training 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 Up

Nimmo’s Return

Following an injury-hit 2021 season, in which he featured in just 92 games, Brandon Nimmo took the calculated decision to ease himself into spring training action. The result? The ability to play in 151 games in 2022. He followed that up with a career-high 152 games played and 24 home runs in 2023. As such, it is no surprise that Nimmo took the same approach this year. Why fix what isn’t broken? Nimmo’s actual 2024 spring training debut on Sunday was hardly impressive if you look at the box score – 0-for-2 – but the fact he was in the lineup was the most important and noteworthy fact. The outfielder has established himself as an important leadoff hitter for this team, and his continued good health will be crucial if the Mets are to be remotely competitive in 2024.

Brett Baty. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerzied

Showing Out

We talked ad nauseam this winter about the importance of Brett Baty having a strong spring. With third base up for grabs, the onus was on Baty to step up and answer some critics after a tough 2023 season. Therefore, Saturday was just what the doctor ordered for the 24-year-old. He went yard against the Marlins after connecting with an 89 mph slider from Roddery Muñoz to get the Mets on the board. It was a big moment for Baty and one he must now build upon for the rest of spring training. All things considered, there is no doubt that this upcoming season is career-defining for Baty, and a strong spring showing will lay the solid foundations for a productive campaign.

Hope For The Future

Saturday was a noteworthy day for the Mets in a multitude of ways. Not only did Baty have a good day at the plate, but several pitching prospects showed out and offered glimpses of hope for the future, both short and long-term. Christian Scott, the top pitching prospect in the system, allowed one hit, one run and one walk in an inning of work, but did induce five swing-and-misses against some established bats.

Mike Vasil, who may be the most major league-ready pitching prospect in the system, did give up a leadoff double but recovered by retiring three straight batters on the way to recording a scoreless seventh inning. And, last but not least, José Buttó, who is in contention for the final rotation spot, appeared in a relief role and struck out two in a scoreless inning. All in all, it was a good day for some potential Mets of the future.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

3 Down 

More Injury Woes

Man, the Mets just can’t get through a week of spring training without suffering more bad news on the injury front, can they? Already down Kodai Senga, the front office and coaching staff will now be without position players Jeff McNeil and Joey Wendle for a hot minute, at least. McNeil, an important cog in the lineup, has left biceps soreness and has been shut down from hitting for a few days. As for Wendle, who signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the team earlier in the offseason, he’s dealing with a sore right shoulder. Now, it is important to note that neither McNeil nor Wendle will be out for long but, still, missing any amount of time in spring training due to injury is hardly ideal.

Goodbye For Now 

The Mets made their first round of spring training cuts on Sunday. RHP Dominic Hamel, RHP Eric Orze, RHP Cam Robinson, RHP Christian Scott, RHP Mike Vasil, LHP Danny Young, OF Drew Gilbert, C Kevin Parada and INF Jett Williams were reassigned to minor league camp. LHP Kolton Ingram and INF Luisangel Acuña were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Of course, cuts are all part of spring training, and we’ll see some of these prospects in the Spring Breakout showcase later this month. However, at a time when excitement is hardly in grand supply for Mets fans, shedding some of the aforementioned prospects will ensure the rest of spring training is one long, hard-to-watch grind.

Downward Trajectory

The rain wasn’t the only thing to dampen the Mets’ spirits on Sunday. Adrian Houser laid a Godzilla-sized egg on the mound. After throwing two scoreless innings in his first start of spring training, Houser followed that up with a rough outing against the Astros. He allowed three runs on four hits and walked one across 1 2/3 innings. The last thing you want to see at this point of spring training is one of your starters taking backward steps. As a result, the Mets will hope it was just one bad day at the office for Houser, who figures to be an integral part of this rotation.

The post 3 Up, 3 Down: Cuts, Struggles and Spring Debuts appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Jeff McNeil has left biceps soreness. He will be shut down from hitting for a few days and reassessed on Tuesday. Joey Wendle is dealing with soreness too, in his shoulder. For more on these reports, read here.

John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Latest MLB News

Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Ronald Acuña Jr. had an MRI on Friday that showed irritation around his meniscus. He will receive further evaluation from Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday. He is still expected to be ready by Opening Day.

Latest on MMO

Alexis Farinacci recaps Luis Severino’s two scoreless-inning performance from Friday.

Elliot Teichman previews 2024 Mets non-roster invitee Ji-Man Choi.

Evan Mazza recaps the Mets’ 4-1 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday.

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Dilson Herrera (31), Jorge Julio (45)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets to Reassess Jeff McNeil on Tuesday appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Wendle has right shoulder soreness, but should be ready for his spring debut toward the end of next week, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The Mets will reassess McNeil on Tuesday, Healey reported. He hasn’t undergone an MRI because the team didn’t think it was serious enough to warrant it. He will continue to work on his defense.

McNeil and Wendle join the list of Mets who have recently hit the injured list. Max Kranick recently injured his hamstring and is going to miss significant time, and Kodai Senga was shut down in February after dealing with arm fatigue.

Healey also reported that Brandon Nimmo will make his spring debut tomorrow and Harrison Bader on Tuesday. The Mets play Miami in Jupiter today at 1:10 p.m. ET.

The post Jeff McNeil, Joey Wendle Dealing with Soreness appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Francisco Lindor. Photo by Roberto Carlo

Big-League Starter

Francisco Lindor

Age: 30 (11/14/1993)
Contract: 10-year, $341 million
Roster Status: 40-Man Roster
MiLB Options: N/A

2024 Preview

Francisco Lindor may be the best shortstop in baseball. Specifically due to the fact that he  is pretty much as consistent as they come.

Lindor turned in his best season as a Met in 2023, hitting .254/.336/.470 with 31 home runs and 31 stolen bases — the first 30-30 season of his career. His 6.0 bWAR and 6.0 fWAR each led the team by a wide margin and he was second to Pete Alonso in both home runs and RBI.

Lindor was in the top quarter of the league in both batting run value and fielding run value. Not only was he the only Met to do that, but he was the only shortstop in baseball to do that. He is simply an all-around star. 

It might come as a shock for some to hear this, but Lindor is on a Hall of Fame track. He’ll be just 30 years old for the entire 2024 season, and he’s already accumulated 42.7 bWAR. Since integration, just six shortstops have accumulated more bWAR than Lindor through their age-29 seasons: Álex Rodríguez, Cal Ripken Jr., Robin Yount, Ernie Banks, Jim Fregosi and Alan Trammell. Four of the six are in Cooperstown. Rodríguez isn’t for obvious reasons, and Fregosi picked up just 2.8 more bWAR from his age-30 season through the end of his career.

As long as he stays healthy and stays away from hotel doors, Lindor has a good chance to play all 162 games this season. He’s a leader, and he’s a great mentor to the plethora of young infielders the Mets have coming up through the farm system.

Joey Wendle. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

Big-League Depth

Joey Wendle

Age: 33 (4/26/1990)
Contract: 1-year, $2 million
Roster Status: 40-man roster
MiLB Options: N/A

2024 Preview

Just like second base, the Mets’ big-league depth up the middle is 33-year-old utility man Joey Wendle.

He is the quintessential bench player — he can play anywhere. The Marlins used him exclusively as a shortstop last season, but he has played all over across his eight-year MLB career. He has 203 starts at second base, 176 starts at third base, 150 starts at shortstop and even 13 starts in left field. 

The most likely infielder to snag a bench spot besides Wendle is Mark Vientos, and he exclusively plays the corners. That leaves Wendle as the only depth piece the Mets have up the middle. There likely aren’t going to be many starts up for grabs at shortstop, but there could be days when he’s needed at second when McNeil goes to the outfield.

Offensively, he struggled mightily last season. He hit just .212/.248/.306 last year (a measly .554 OPS), with just two home runs in 112 games for Miami. His career high in both long balls is 11, which came in 2021 with Tampa Bay.

He’s not a power bat by any means, but he’s hit for a decent average at points in his career. Obviously, last year wasn’t one of those points, but maybe he can bounce back if deployed against the right matchups in his utility role.

Upper-Level Depth

Zack Short

Age: 28 (5/29/1995)
Contract: Minor League
Roster Status: 40-Man Roster
MiLB Options: 0

2024 Preview

Also like the second base positional outlook, the depth the Mets have in the upper minors starts with Zack Short. Another utility man similar to Wendle, Short made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Detroit Tigers and played on and off for the past three seasons. He hit the 100-game mark for the first time in his career in 2023 and made double-digit starts at second base, third base and shortstop.

Short doesn’t bring much at the plate. He hit just .204 with a .631 OPS last year in Detroit, and both were career highs by far. However, his defensive versatility gives him some value as a depth piece until some of the many middle infielders the Mets have coming through the farm system are ready.

MLB veteran José Iglesias is at spring training with the Mets as a non-roster invitee, so he could also serve as depth if he makes it through camp and onto the Triple-A roster.

Coming Soon

Jett Williams

Age: 20 (11/3/2003)
Contract: Minor League
Roster Status: Not on 40-man roster; Rule 5 Draft Eligible December 2026; non-roster invitee to spring training
MiLB Options: 3

2024 Preview

Realistically, there is no “coming soon” at shortstop. Lindor is under contract through 2031. He will be the starting shortstop for the better part of the next decade. Technically, though, if someone is coming soon at shortstop, it’s Jett Williams. While Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday that Williams will start getting more looks at other positions, he would still be the most likely choice if something happens to Lindor. 

Skyrocketing lately in the various 2024 MLB top-100 prospect updates, Williams is arguably the best prospect in the system. In 121 games across three levels, Williams hit .263/.425/.451, showing off one of the best eyes in the entire minor leagues. Despite being just 5-foot-6, he hits for sneaky pop, slugging 13 home runs in 2023 while being just 19 years old the entire year. 

His most likely future with the Mets is either at second base or center field, but he’s a good enough athlete where he’ll be able to step in for Lindor whenever needed. He just might be a year out.

Other options on the farm include Luisangel Acuña and Jeremiah Jackson, who are also about a year out. Jeremy Rodriguez, Marco Vargas, Colin Houck, Boston Baro, A.J. Ewing and Branny De Oleo are other names to keep an eye on, but all are still teenagers and won’t make an MLB impact for at least two seasons.

The post Mets 2024 Positional Outlook: Shortstop appeared first on Metsmerized Online.