After the Mets dismal 1-0 loss to the Braves on Sunday afternoon, Terry Collins was pretty much at a loss for words at his team’s on-going struggles on both sides of the ball during their current five-game losing streak.
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you,” Collins said in a frustrating voice on Sunday. “We’ve done everything we can. We’ve brought all those guys up that are swinging the bats good at the time they’re swinging good in Las Vegas. This is not the Coast League.”
Have they called up everyone, though?
One name who has remained absent among the Mets attempt to inject life into the offense is infielder Matt Reynolds who, despite some struggles, has had a solid season offensively for Triple-A Las Vegas.
He took an 0-for-5 on Sunday, but is hitting .301/.338/.479 with five doubles, a triple and two home runs in his last 18 games for Triple-A Las Vegas. Overall, Reynolds has hit .280/.332/.418 with four home runs and 42 RBI in 298 plate appearances in 2015, hitting left-handed pitching at a .358 clip. He has struggled away from Cashman Field, however, hitting .235/.277/.360 in 34 games on the road.
Reynolds hasn’t been very good defensively, having committed nine errors in 54 games at shortstop. The turf in Las Vegas in particular is hard and fast, so that could explain some of the mistakes. But, errors are errors, as has been the case on the middle infield with the big club. And, it’s pretty much in-line with his track record at the position over the years as well.
In Spring Training, people around the Mets seemed to want to see more from Reynolds, who didn’t act completely sold on his ability to contribute at the big league level despite a breakout 2014 season with Binghamton and Las Vegas. He’s had a nice year in 2015, but hasn’t stood out despite a good month in the Pacific Coast League.
Still, a talent evaluator told Mike Vorkunov of the Star Ledger Reynolds is probably a better option than Eric Campbell or Daniel Muno, both of which have struggled in various ways when provided opportunities.
“He’s good enough to come up,” the talent evaluator told Vorkunov.
By no means should Reynolds be considered a savior for the Mets. He isn’t going to come here and transform the lineup in all probability. There’s clearly a reason the Mets haven’t called him up for a look as well.
But, if the Mets do in fact demote Dilson Herrera, the Mets have nothing to lose by giving Reynolds a look.
He isn’t that young, so now may be as good a time as any to see what he could contribute. Perhaps the Mets can bring him up to play second base and they can shift Daniel Murphy to third. That would certainly give them a stronger defensive alignment than demoting Herrera and reinstalling Murphy at second base. Perhaps Reynolds could prove to eventually be a valuable middle infield utility player who can serve as a right-handed bat off the bench, assuming everyone is healthy.
There’s only one way to find out.
There is a problem, however, and it’s that Reynolds is still not on the 40-man roster. The roster stands at 39 right now, but they need to give the final spot to Jenrry Mejia, who will likely be activated on July 7 when the team is in San Francisco. The Mets could opt to move David Wright to the 60-day disabled list, but then they’ll be faced with another problem when Jerry Blevins needs to be activated, presumably in about a month.
It’s worth noting the Mets currently have four catchers on the 40-man roster: Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Plawecki, Johnny Monell, and Anthony Recker. That’s pretty unusual, but perhaps the Mets could accomodate Reynolds by clearing one of the catchers at some point.
And in fairness, there are also plenty of other players on the 40-man roster who the Mets could afford to waive and outright them back to the minors.
No matter what, if the Mets can’t acquire talent from the outside or they must continue to wait for the trade market to develop, Reynolds could be an option worth considering.
After all, they know what they have here right now simply isn’t working, so it can’t get any worse.
Just Mets 