Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

The hot corner at Citi Field is about to get crowded. Once Jed Lowrie returns from the IL with a knee capsule sprain, the Mets will have four third baseman on the 25-Man roster with Todd Frazier, J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil already in the picture.

The Mets found a way to keep McNeil’s bat in the lineup by playing him in left field. But it still unclear how the Mets will distribute playing time between the team’s other options at third base.

Lowrie should be the team’s primary third baseman, like he was expected to be when the Mets’ signed him to a two-year $20M deal this offseason. His numbers from last season make him the clear choice as he slashed .267/.353/.448 with 23 home runs and 99 RBI in 680 plate appearances for the Oakland A’s. He also posted a 4.9 WAR and earned his first all-star appearance during his impressive 2018 campaign.

But he also provides the Mets with flexibility to play other positions, as he’s played more games at shortstop (420) and second base (394) than third (95) in his career. This means that he could occasionally spell Amed Rosario at shortstop and give some breaks to the 36-year-old Robinson Cano at second.

It’s also possible that the Mets ease Lowrie back into a full-time role. Aside from one big night in Triple-A on Thursday, Lowrie has looked rusty with a .161/.235/.258 batting line in 34 plate appearances in his rehab assignment. These struggles shouldn’t be worrisome given that he missed Spring Training, but it may take some time before Lowrie gets locked in at the dish.

These factors mean that there will be some chances for Frazier and Davis to gets at-bats.  Over the weekend against Miami, the Mets started to lean more towards Davis, as he got both starts and went 3-for-5 on Saturday. The 26-year-old slugger has been a nice surprise for New York this season, as he’s hitting .276/.357/.425 with three home runs in 98 plate appearances.

But the Mets seem reluctant to move on from Frazier and his $9M salary, despite his struggles at the plate. In 50 plate appearances, he is batting .143/.160/.265 with 17 strikeouts and no walks. The Mets like Frazier for his defense and leadership, but those skills won’t make up for his .425 OPS and 16 OPS+.

Adeiny Hechavarria looks like the player who will be sent down. He is batting .182/.182./.182 in 11 trips to the plate and is known mostly for his defense at shortstop. The Mets could also send down Dominic Smith again, who they just recalled last week from Triple-A.

The Mets are going to have some difficult decisions to make when Lowrie returns, but having depth like Davis and Smith on the bench isn’t a bad problem to have. It will be interesting to see if the Mets, at some point, trade some of their infield depth for pitching help.