The storyline for the Mets has centered around their poor defense up the middle, specifically as it pertains to Wilmer Flores and the nine errors he’s committed in just 37 games so far in 2015.
At the present time, the Mets have said they are not ready to make a change at shortstop, evident by their decision to call up Eric Campbell from Triple-A Las Vegas rather than Matt Reynolds.
However, there is a scenario in which the Mets could eventually consider promoting Reynolds to be their shortstop, according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network/FOX Sports.
“The Mets are sticking with Wilmer Flores at shortstop, for now,” Rosenthal explained. “But, here is one scenario under consideration: trade Daniel Murphy, move Flores to second base, and promote Matt Reynolds to play shortstop.
“Such a change would not happen right away,” Rosenthal continued. “The trade market has yet to develop, and the Mets would prefer to break in Reynolds next to a healthy David Wright.”
From what I can tell in talking with industry experts and people around the club, there is no date or specific timeframe set as to when the Mets might make the change at shortstop, although I’m pretty sure they’re thinking about Plan B regardless of what they say in public. Their concerns were obvious when they decided to recall Dilson Herrera and move Murphy to third base.
The question is, can the Mets wait much longer, considering there’s no timetable for Wright to return?
Certainly, that would afford more time for the organization to examine Reynolds and whether or not he can do this here. It would also provide a larger sample size to determine whether or not 2014 was a fluke, something I got the sense the team was concerned about earlier this year.
On the other hand, early eventually becomes late, the team is suffering right now, and the situation at shortstop just doesn’t seem like it’s going to get better. And, now that Herrera is hurt and Murphy is back at second, they’re playing a scenario they essentially said was not working well when Herrera was called up.
That’s not to say Reynolds can do this here. It’s a fair question, and he would unquestionably coming into a situation where expectations and pressure will be high.
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2 responses to “Mets might consider Matt Reynolds for shortstop, but not yet”
How does moving to second base increase Flores’ range? What happens to the player so many experts have said will be an All-Star in 3 years, Herrera?
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Honestly, how much of a defensive upgrade can Reynolds be over Flores? Just before this weekend, ESPN’s Mark Simon had Flores’ WAR at zero thus far this year, meaning he’s average. That’s not too bad for a 23 year old who’s making just north of $500.000. While Flores may not be a great SS by any means I feel that his all around perfomance this year belongs to the Mets’ smaller problems and his defensive troubles are being made way too much of.
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