Mets’ shortstop Amed Rosario had another rough night in the field on Saturday, and has now committed nine errors in his last 15 games.
Errors are a flawed statistic, but no matter which way you cut it, he doesn’t look comfortable in the field right now. The 23-year-old could be compounding mistakes due to a mental block where is he focusing too hard on not messing up that he actually is, but regardless, it’s concerning.
So far this season, Rosario has logged 280.1 innings at short, and already has -11 defensive runs saved (DRS) and a -4.3 ultimate zone range (UZR).
Last season, he wasn’t stellar in the field by any means, but had -16 DRS in over 1,200 innings. This year, he has appeared in a fraction as many innings and is nearly to that number already.
At the dish, he has shown flashes of hope, but when it boils down, he has a meager 86 wRC+ which is No. 19 among qualifying shortstops, and a .294 wOBA which is No. 20 among qualifying shortstops.
A former top prospect, Rosario still has time to right the ship and forge a solid big league career, but with how he has performed in the field this year, and more specifically recently, a change needs to be made.
Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway said Rosario would be in the lineup Sunday, and that he will work through his issues, but when does it become a bigger concern?
Let’s take a look at a couple options for the shortstop.
Bench Rosario for a couple days to clear his head
Rosario is obviously aware of his defensive woes, which could be a big reason he has struggled. It could be wise to bench him for a couple days to clear his head.
New York recently called up Adeiny Hechavarria, who could slot in for the time being. This could only be a temporary fix, as Hechavarria is even more light-hitting than Rosario. In his career, he has just a 72 wRC+ and .276 wOBA.
In the field, he has been solid for most of his career with 22 DRS total. However, his UZR has been trending downward in recent seasons, but he did still have a 1.7 in 717.1 innings at short last year.
Hechavarria may be moved when Jed Lowrie comes back in the next several days, but the Mets should start the former for a few games to let Rosario clear his head.
Send Rosario down
The Mets could choose to send Rosario to Triple-A Syracuse so he can work his issues out in the minors.
With Jed Lowrie coming back, New York could move Hechavarria to make roster space, then call up Luis Guillorme to replace Rosario.
However, this plan could only work as a short term decision, as Lowrie hasn’t played shortstop full-time since 2014, and even when he did, he wasn’t particularly good.
Guillorme could slot in at short to provide a better defensive option than Lowrie, and at the plate, could give them a decent on-base percentage guy, despite the fact he doesn’t hit for much power.
Let Guillorme get some reps at short while Rosario works on his issues in the minors. This would also give Guillorme a chance to prove himself, something he hasn’t been able to do much at the MLB level.
Let Rosario work through it
Keep trotting Rosario out there.
This seems to be the plan for at least the time being, with Callaway having Rosario play on Sunday, despite a rough night in the field Saturday and a concerning last couple weeks.
Hopefully, they can work with Rosario off the field to get him more comfortable and to be less in his head, and hope that one thing leads to another and he figures it out.
Solution
I think Rosario really just needs a couple days off to clear his mind. At just 23-years-old and being a top prospect less than two years ago, New York should have faith that he can develop into an asset.
Sending him down could mess with his confidence even more, and having him go out there everyday while he’s struggling could just compound mistakes even more, as my coworker Tim Ryder had opined.
So, I agree with him and say give him a couple days off, so when he comes back he is rejuvenated and has a clean slate.
