Rejoice, Mets fans — the Darin Ruf experiment is over. Despite tearing up opposing pitchers on the backfields in PSL, New York decided to designate him for assignment on Monday to make room for outfielder Tim Locastro. This also potentially clears a path for manager Buck Showalter to get Luis Guillorme involved on a regular basis.
At least, that’s what Newsday‘s Tim Healey said. A Twitter user asked him if this meant the recently-demoted Mark Vientos would actually be on the Opening Day roster:
Mark Vientos still is opening the year in Syracuse. The Mets don’t have a set DH against lefties, but options include Tommy Pham and Eduardo Escobar (which gets Luis Guillorme in at third). https://t.co/Ew0p6NyEyl
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) March 27, 2023
While Eduardo Escobar knows his days as the Mets’ starting third baseman are likely numbered, he’ll begin the regular season in that role. But given his general versatility in the field and as a switch-hitter, he could easily be part of the DH platoon with Daniel Vogelbach.
We also know that Showalter is a huge fan of Guillorme and probably wants to get him involved as much as possible. After all, he said the defensive whiz should’ve been headed to the All-Star Game in Los Angeles last year. Even with a mostly healthy infield throughout 2022, the veteran skipper found a way to help Guillorme set career-high marks in games played (102) and plate appearances (335). That opportunity also resulted in a career-high 1.3 fWAR.
I thought this could be a way to help the “unsettled” DH situation in Queens, too. We’ll see how things play out once games start counting later this week. But, either way, a little more Luis Guillorme is never a bad thing in my book.
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You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
