Utility infielder Luis Guillorme is well-known to Mets fans. He’s been with the club in some capacity since debuting in 2018. And while he hadn’t played in more than 69 games in a season until 2022 (when he appeared in 102), his slick fielding, defensive versatility, and tremendous beard have endeared him to the fan base.
But when did this love affair start? That’d be on this day six years ago. On March 2nd, 2017, the Mets were playing the Miami Marlins in a Grapefruit league matchup. Adeiny Hechavarría swung and missed at an offering from Robert Gsellman (remember him?), and his bat went flying toward New York’s dugout.
Everyone that appeared to be in the bat’s trajectory went running for cover. Except for Guillorme. He just calmly caught it and flipped it back to Hechavarría like it was no big deal:
As usual, the reaction in the booth was just stupendous. Keith’s “Who is that?!” will always make me chuckle. We can also hope Brandon Nimmo took Guillorme out to lunch or dinner as a thank-you for saving his life.
This was Guillorme’s second opportunity to be at a big-league camp. But, it was really his first after only accumulating three at-bats in 2016. There’s always an opportunity to make an impression on coaches. This play technically had nothing to do with his baseball skills, but you can’t tell me that didn’t help him get some extra looks at all.
Guillorme didn’t have to do another thing to be considered a Mets spring-training legend, but he did it anyways four years later. He was actually playing this time, too. On March 14th, 2021, the Mets and St. Louis Cardinals were facing off against one another. Guillorme was in the batter’s box with hard-throwing Jordan Hicks on the mound, and this head-to-head matchup went on for a while.
Twenty-two (22) pitches, to be exact. He immediately fell behind 0-2 but fouled off 16 (!) pitches en route to drawing a walk.
That’s the most exciting walk you’ll ever see in spring training.
What does Luis Guillorme have up his sleeve before Opening Day? Who knows, but we can hope it’ll be something good. He needs to complete the trifecta with these other two legendary moments.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
