Earlier in this series I discussed how Corey Oswalt was misused by management in terms of being jerked around off his pitching schedule. We also talked about Tyler Bashlor being on the roster for a while but going through long periods of not getting in a game. Well there’s one more player the Mets did this to, and it was more inexplicable, Luis Guillorme. Jeff and Fred Wilpon For some reason Jose Reyes kept getting playing time over the young defensive wiz, and it has led to serious questions as to what’s next.
Baseball America talks about the main reason why everyone knows Luis – the one handed amazing catch in the dugout during spring training where he picked a bat off in the air like it was nothing. This is his main draw – he has amazing reflexes!
“I just literally saw the bat coming at me and caught it. Didn’t think much of it.”
Luis Guillorme on his wild day: https://t.co/tDnPEd5xqw pic.twitter.com/sr2Tw1MIt2
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 2, 2017
The knock on Luis is he doesn’t hit for power. This didn’t stop him from getting the MVP award in the South Atlantic League in 2015. With his great defensive skills and contact prowess, he should have been a major utility piece for the Mets last year struggling with defense. But the Mets gave him an extremely limited role. He ended up hitting only .209/.284/.239 in 35 games and 74 PA’s despite what felt like him being up in the league for a sizable chunk of the season. It’s just not fair.
Depending on what the Mets do next year, he’ll probably start the year in Syracuse. Personally, if the Mets don’t sign some infield depth for the bench, Luis should be on the major league team, regularly coming into the game after the 7th inning. Hopefully he gets an AB or 2 in the process.
The worst case scenario is the Mets call him up, either early or in the season or right away, and then don’t use him again. He needs regular playing time as well.
Essentially, dear Mets, please do not sign Jose Reyes this year to block Luis Guillorme. He was right on track where he should have been in his development until the Mets Mets’d everything up.
