In need of a spark, the New York Mets couldn’t afford to wait any longer and made the call on Wednesday, promoting red-hot prospect Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse.
In the corresponding move to make room for him, the Mets optioned utility infielder Luis Guillorme to Triple-A.
The 23-year-old had been raking in the minors, slashing .333/.416/.688 with 13 home runs in 38 games for the Syracuse Mets. He becomes the logical and obvious option to slot into the designated hitter and No. 5 spot of New York’s sputtering lineup — though the Mets and general manager Billy Eppler remain hesitant to have their young players performing strictly as the DH.
However, Brett Baty has secured Vientos’ natural position at third base, Pete Alonso is obviously immovable at first, and the youngster’s left-field defense is still a work in progress.
Couple that with the lack of production coming from the DH position and, again, it appears to be a no-brainer.
Tommy Pham, who has failed to find his bearings with the Mets yet, was placed in the DH spot for two straight games to start the week. He’s batting .188 with a .632 OPS in 69 at-bats this season.
Regardless of who the Mets have put in the spot of their lineup, they’ve struggled. Per Baseball Reference, the Mets have received a slash line of .213/.313/.323 with a .635 OPS, three home runs, and 13 RBI from the fifth hole.
By comparison, Mets hitters batting fourth have an OPS of .841 and those batting sixth are at .817.
Vientos’ pop could help lengthen a lineup that has been starving for depth and power in 2023. They recently broke a 56-inning home-run-less drought on Tuesday night, but they still rank 23rd in Major League Baseball with an average of 4.16 runs scored per game.
