The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve placed outfielder Albert Almora Jr. on the injured list with a shoulder contusion and promoted outfield prospect Khalil Lee for what will be his Major League debut. Almora sustained the injury on a full-sprint collision with the center field wall on what was very nearly a brilliant catch against the Orioles last night (video link). Almora briefly caught what was a deep drive off the bat of Austin Hays before the impact knocked the ball loose and resulted in a triple. He left the game for testing, and the fact that he escaped with what appears to be a relatively minor injury is welcome news.
In place of Almora, the Mets will turn to the 22-year-old Lee — a 2016 third-round pick by the Royals who ranked as one of the better prospects in the Kansas City organization before coming to the Mets by way of the three-team Andrew Benintendi trade over the winter. Lee opened the season in Triple-A but will get his first call to the big leagues after a six-game stint in Syracuse that saw him bat .250/.478/.313 in a small sample of 23 plate appearances.
Entering the season, Lee was generally regarded among the Mets’ ten best farmhands, ranking seventh at MLB.com, eighth at FanGraphs and ninth at Baseball America. Scouting reports on Lee praise his plus arm, above-average raw power and above-average speed, but his tools have been counteracted to an extent by his penchant for striking out. Lee has punched out in just over 28 percent of his professional plate appearances, though he’s also walked in nearly 12 percent of them. He can handle all three outfield positions and has a 53-steal campaign in 2019 under his belt, although both BA and FanGraphs note that’s more a product of his aggression on the bases than blistering raw speed.
Lee’s initial call to the big leagues comes at a time when the Mets have both Almora and Brandon Nimmo on the injured list, which should create some opportunities to get him into the lineup. He may not have an immediate path to a roster spot once the team is back up to full strength, but Mets fans will get their first look at a player who could factor into the team’s plans for the next several years at some point in the near future. Lee isn’t in the starting lineup today — Dominic Smith, Kevin Pillar and Michael Conforto are manning the outfield — but is available off the bench and figures to get into a game before too long.
From what Iv seen, Lee can’t hit but he brings good speed that the Mets havent had in years
I know it sounds crazy, but in a way, the injuries to Nimmo and Davis have been a bit of a blessing, because Pillar and Villar have been performing really well, and Villar has been amazing on the bases. Lee will bring yet even more speed.
Yeah Villar and Pillar need to play everyday in order to do well, if there was a dh it would make the Mets alot better defensevly and offensevly
I’ve never wanted Kevin Millar to be a Met more than right now.
The law firm of Pillar, Villar, and Millar. Lol
Nimmo and Davis were hitting a lot better than village and pillar are right now. It’s not a blessing and disguise it just that the Mets are deeper than every team.
@MetsFan22 Nimmo was doing well to start off the year, but he had been cooling down a bit to be fair. Also, the Mets were absolutely not scoring any runs even with Nimmo and Davis hitting. Pillar and Villar (while not better than Nimmo and Davis) were playing small ball and converting runs. They were the spark the Mets needed and are both a huge part of this winning streak. It helps that they’re playing bad teams, but good teams beat up on bad teams. So yes. The Mets are deep. Not deeper than every team, but deeper than most in the division. Their pitching is really carrying them, but the strength they’re getting from the bench, especially when the big names are underperforming, is absolutely huge.
@VonPurpleHayes: I don’t know that I would call it a ‘blessing’ so much as good offseason moves. Nimmo and Davis were hitting well. Losing them sucks, but having Pillar and Villar has eased that loss.
@rct Absolutely. I’m just trying to say that the team has been playing better with Pillar and Villar. Over the course of a full season, I’m sure Nimmo and Davis are better, but Pillar and Villar have been essential during this hot streak. I honestly don’t think the Mets win all these games with Nimmo and Davis in the lineup. The right guys are getting hot at the right time picking up the slack for the slumping stars. Good offseason moves for sure. Good depth.
As a jays fan. I always liked Pillar. He makes great plays, even tho metrics say he makes the play harder then it is. The biggest thing with him is he always started hot, seemed like Every year he would have a 300 average and you would think this is the year he really breaks out. But time after time he would go back to hitting 245ish the a OBP under 300. Hes a good 4th OF tho has some power and definitely bring his lunch box to work
It’s been over 10 years since there’s been a Khalil in MLB. For some reason this name makes me think of broccoli.
Kenny Lofton needs to get in before McGriff
@scott. Both should be in already. Hopefully the veterans committee gets them in someday.
Edmonds was better than either McGriff or Lofton. Combine an OPS+ of 132 with 8 GGs in CF. McGriff had a OPS+ of 134, but played 1st. Lofton had an OPS+ of 107 with only 4 GGs in CF.
Both need to be in there. After Maz of course. All kidding aside both should already be in.
Makes me think of how weird Nicholas Cage is — naming his poor kid, Kal-El because he never got to play Superman in Tim Burton’s film years ago.
Nick Cage isn’t his real name either. Cage was taken from the comic character Luke Cage (Power Man). Nick is just a comic book fan.
And cage is part of the coppola family. His uncle and aunt are francis ford coppola and talia shire( rocky movies) . His brother is a long tine d.j. in nyc named marc coppola( aka the cope)… for those that didn’t know
Coppola is about the best DJ in NYC.
An outfielder with tons of speed that cant hit.. We havent had a guy like that on the team in years. I mean i cant imagine how well a guy like that will do. Almost sounds like billy hamilton. He is amazing. We absolutely need someone like that on the team.
August 2, 2020: Billy Hamilton traded by the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets for Jordan Humphreys
2020 Mets 1-22 .045 Avg.083 Obp .129 OPS -63 OPS+ and 3 SB out of 4 tries in 17 games as a met.
Not the Mets fault, They looked at his B-R stats and thought they were getting a HOF. Unfortunately, that HOF Billy Hamilton stopped playing in 1901.
Hamilton or Altherr
Should I take a flyer on him in my fantasy league?
Do you get points for strikeouts? Then yes.
not yet. hasnt hit too well in AAA.
actually scratch that. tur numbers look better then they did when i last checked.
NLE only?
The law firm of Pillar, Villar, and Millar. Lol
Random fact:Khalil Lee holds the pro baseball record for most strikeouts in one game with 8 during a 21 inning game
@Metsfan9 sadly this is a record that makes sense in modern baseball. We would see it broken if not for the runner on 2nd extra inning rule.
My eyes almost glaze over when I hear about a pitcher setting some new historic K record. It’s not that these pitchers aren’t great, but the approach of hitters today means even mediocre pitchers can average a K per 9.
Yup. It’s tough adjusting to as a fan, but this is the game now.
You would think that by pure luck he would have made contact with so many chances
The Mets are winning today AND they’re in first place.
That’s pretty cool.
Lee looked overmatched in spring training. Hopefully it was just rust that needed to be knocked off. Maybe we’ll see what the new hitting coaches can do for him.
Given that AA had only one hit this year, it won’t take much to add value as long as this kid doesn’t play every day.
Which brings me back to my recurring theme. If Pillar is the backup CF, and Villar can kind of backup everywhere, why is AA on the team? As the backup to the backup CF, who doesn’t hit well enough to be a pinch-hitter, and has only 4/4 career SB/CS, what exactly is his role?
Scary thought-the NYM’s OPS from the pitchers’ slot is .407. AA’s OPS is .139. If you were desperate for a PHer, DeGrom might make more sense.
Almora is a much better fielder in CF than Pillar and has more potential, a higher ceiling. He may never reach it and Pillar may wind up the more overall value, but I think that’s why Almora has been on the roster.
Remember all the hate I got from Mets fans before the season when I informed you that James McCann was a backup catcher and not the 4-year, $48 million stud you thought you were signing. James McCann is a great guy, but he is nothing more than an average backup catcher.
He’s way better than an “average backup” (seriously take a look around the league) and the season is early. His slow start proves nothing, I’d hold off on the victory dance just yet.
@Cosmo2 I agree with your assessment. He’s a starting catcher on many teams, but the Mets jumped the gun too early and overpaid for him. I think we can agree there. It was one of the rare misses of a fantastic offseason, but he has plenty of time to prove me wrong. Some people likely think Lindor is a bust as well, but I see him breaking out while I think what we’ve seen from McCann is essentially what we’re getting all year.
I honestly think Nido is better than him. He is the only move that I regret the team making. The dude stinks until he proves otherwise.
Hahaha
Nido is a career -0.9 bWAR. I don’t see what fans see in him. By today’s standards I guess he’s passable as a backup but no way he’s even as good a McCann was before his transformation.
@metsfan22
I actually agree, Nido is a solid defensive catcher and calls a good game.
McCann seems to call a good game too. Stroman was gushing about him on last night’s post game presser.
Which is hard to measure except when you look at pitching stats and even then you don’t know what is the pitcher, what is the catcher, what is the preparation with the pitching coach and analytics, and what is a combination. You almost have to rely on praise from pitchers to evaluate this and the staff like McCann.
Absolutely true. How can you or I or any TV announcer judge if a catcher calls a good game or not? We’re not qualified. The only one who is, is the pitcher who throws to him
Nido is a different player now than when he first came up.
According to what evidence? 48 plate appearances vs his entire professional career? His stats the last two years still drop off into oblivion if you remove that ONE good game he had last year. A lot of fans feel the way you do but I see no evidence for it.
Almora! What a great catch! This is the stuff that players under pressure do just get a chance to play… excellent outfielder…