The Mets welcome back an old friend, a former future second-basemen in Dilson Herrera to spring. The Mets famously didn’t pursue Daniel Murphy after the National League Champions 2015 Mets also had Dilson Herrera on the roster, but then traded Herrera away the next season.
Ultimately Dilson Herrera is wrapped up with a lot of interesting Mets stories. He was signed by the Pirates as a free agent in 2010. In 2013 he was traded with Vic Black for John Buck and Marlon Byrd. Expectations were high for him from the start and his best season in the majors was with the 2015 Mets.
But then Herrera wasn’t able to crack out of the minors with the 2016 Mets, and he was traded with Max Wotell to the Reds to Jay Bruce thus starting the Jay Bruce era. So Herrera is the scapegoat for the end of the Murphy era and kicks off a very confusing time with Jay Bruce.
Enough trivia and 6 degrees of separation, lets get into the numbers. Dilson Herrera finally got back to the majors last year:
2018: 97 PA, 87 AB, 5 HR, .184/.268/.414, 74 DRC+
2015 Mets: 103 PA, 3 HR, .211/.311/.367, 95 DRC+
Career: .203/.293/.394, 86 DRC+
Dilson is not with the Mets right now to solve any major issues. The Mets have so many infielders in camp. Dilson provides much needed depth for a team that seems to lose half of it’s roster every year. It’s easy to forget that the injury bug last year didn’t just effect the major league squad but also Las Vegas. The Mets need options to not rush position player prospects, many who will playing at low A ball this year.
We wish the best for Herrera and we’re glad he’s back. With the signing of Hechavarria recently we find it extremely unlikely that Herrera will make it on the roster after spring. We are also relieved that the roster has be built in such a way that if we need to reach deep for depth, there are players with major league experience to lean on, like Dilson Herrera.
