The Mets have acquired infielder JT Riddle from the Reds, according to Doug Gray of the Redleg Nation blog (Twitter link). Riddle has mostly played at Triple-A Louisville this season, but also made two appearances with Cincinnati at the big league level.
A veteran of six MLB seasons, Riddle received most of his playing time as a semi-regular with the Marlins from 2017-19, with 223 of his 252 career games coming during those three seasons. After playing 23 games with the Pirates during the shortened 2020 season, Riddle got into just four games with the Twins in 2021.
Riddle has mostly played shortstop during his career, but has expanded his defensive repertoire to become a super-utility type over the last three years. He’ll provide the Mets with a Triple-A depth option in the event of an injury to one of their regular infielders. Known more for his glove and his versatility than his bat, Riddle has hit .233/.261/.354 over 797 career plate appearances in the majors.
Depth. Mets AAA is pretty barren of even emergency stop gaps
Our offense has been hot recently but good pitching is more consistent then good offense. We need pitching. With that being said, I like JT Riddle. Hes killed the Mets in the past so I’m open to seeing him get playing time. Eppler needs to put forth his efforts in pitching while our offense is set for right now
If by lately you mean a few games. Offense is the Mets buggaboo, too many 2-3 run dogs. I’d like to get Plummer up rather than a light bat D-guy, but what do I know? We be winning, I be happy, I hope you are happy too!
I’m happy. I’d be happier with one more live arm.
A starter. But that is what Trevor Cahill was signed for. Not the liveliest of arms, but worth a low cost audition in Syracuse to see if he’a got anything left.
Plummer is a light bat
slashes of .280, .415, .479 for an OPS of .894 between AA and AAA with the Cardinals last year and his 2nd on the team 6HR with an .825 OPS at Syracuse this year suggest otherwise. Maybe just a late bloomer looking at his prior to 2020 and post 2020 numbers.
If he were a good hitter he’d A. be in the majors already and B. wouldn’t have been so easily available…. He’s a 4th OFr at best. Yes, probably a better hitter than Riddle, but by how much really?
It is very premature to base one’s hitting prowess on performance in AAA because the pitching in AAA is simply not as good. Cam Maybin told a cool story on YES about his first ever ML appearance: Cam appeared at the plate against Andy Petitte and struck out on pitches he had {never seen} before the Majors (cutter).
Although performance at AAA is an indicator, & it’s really, really tempting to classify one’s bat by a good hitting display in AAA, it’s still an inferior league.
That didn’t age well.
@Cosmo2 there is a spectrum in between “light bat” as you noted him to be and “good hitter” as you also reference above. His numbers suggest some pop and some on base skills to go with defensive skills. He probably is a 4th OF, but to label him a “light bat”? Upside is above that. Nice GWB last night.
I’d say he’ll be lucky to carry a league average OPS+. To me, that’s a light bat. But then, I suppose that would make Riddle a VERY light bat.
Peterv: Age well? Ok so one at bat defines an entire career? I’m sorry but that’s idiotic. Grow up.
Cosmo: He’s right, it didn’t age well because he hit a massive home run immediately after you called him a light bat. “Grow up”? Hardly lol…
He IS a light bat. To judge a player based on one at bat is very childish. Or are you going to suggest that every player that’s ever hit a homer is a good hitter?
Second HR, oppo 3-run variety. We have different definitions of light hitters. Rey Ordonez was a light hitter. Plummer looks to have some gap power.
I agree with you. If Ordonez is a light hitter then Plummer is certainly better than that. (I would call Ordonez a TERRIBLE hitter, but…). Still, despite a great two games, Plummer is still the same guy that 29 teams passed on last month. That was for a reason.
He was a free agent, everybody that doesn’t sign a free agent passes on him so your point is incredibly invalid.. The Mets knew what they needed to fill out AAAA depth, If you don’t get it you don’t get it.
He was released. Technically a free agent but when it happens to a minor leaguer it’s cuz his old team no longer wanted him. Was there a bidding war? He’s a guy who could be had for a non guaranteed minimum! Yet he remained unsigned for some time. He’s a scrap heap pickup. Doesn’t mean he can’t surprise but he was available to anyone for nothing and he got mostly silence. You don’t become a minor league free agent because the league thinks highly of you.
Right. I don’t think he’s going to be a long term piece by any stretch. But, I think he can help contribute for a short period. Even if it’s a few weeks or a month, that would be an unexpected lift. In a long season, we need a few guys in the minors to provide support. Holderman has surprised so far.
You do know the Mets are top 5 in nearly every offensive category, right?
Plummers biggest problem when he was drafted was that he couldn’t hit with a wood bat, or really was never good at making solid contact, but had an MLB ready eye who could swipe ya 10 bags a season. His offensive ceiling isn’t that high.
I played against him when he went to BR, he either swung at everything or nothing I tossed at him, and that generally has been the consensus for his career. Granted he’s clearly switched up his swing since 2013, but making that adjustment can be quite hard to make stick once pitchers figure out your weaknesses, which for Plummer was always off speed. Really volatile prospect overall.
I am not trying to insult the Mets who are a fantastic team, but don’t be deceived by this Phillies series. A lot of those hits would’ve been outs had they been playing a normal team. I’m not even talking about the obvious errors. The terrible range of the Phillies outfielders and bad throws on sac flies…those games were just embarrassing. I’d wait to judge the Mets offense for when they play a real team and not a joke.
We’ve been telling you from the jump the Phillies defense is awful. Without Harper it’s now putrid.
The Mets have won nearly every series since the start of the season. They are too 5 in the entire league in almost every hitting category. Stop.
I’m responding to the comment about the Mets offense being great this week specifically. Everyone’s offense is great against the Phillies. So relax yourself. Go back to your old name MetsFan22.
Another LuCkY win for the Mets tonight. Sorry for your loss.
How is beating a team that struggles to make basic plays lucky? Seems more like normal, or expected.
Sarcasm
4 DH’s on the Phillies: Hoskins, Schwarber, Castellenos and Bohm. Really bad gloves. If fans were honest none even have the glove or head for 1B.
Scouts rated the best Phillies defender a 45 on the 80 Scale. That’s their best defender (Realmuto). A 45 rating is “fringe to average”.
The Phillies are a poorly constructed team that needs to score 5 runs every night to win.
Oh and their bullpen is poor as well. One starting pitching injury away from a complete meltdown.
I agree with you, couldn’t say it any better.
What used to be red but is now orange and blue?
A rotten apple?
Ew.
It’s a Riddle
Nice to see the Mets FO acquiring depth throughout the season.
Pure depth move.
Guillermo on fire.
Can he pitch? That’s what the Mets need.
Hawkvet, Meet Colin Holderman.
Drew smith dislocated his pinky.
No break, so that’s good.
The Mets got a call from Vinnie Mac… JT just goes by Riddle now.
Nice. I was thinking the same thing.
At least someone in NL East is trying to win.
He’s better at quidditch
He Who Must Not Be Named
Who/what are the Reds getting?
Cash considerations
They’ve got the Riddler, when will they sign the Joker.
They had the Dark Knight…..he didn’t turn out so well. Maybe they should stay away from DC characters for everyone’s sake. But, then again, I’m sure the O’s would gladly give him back to the Mets.
Heh, yea let’s be careful with such nicknames around this team
Marvel nicknames maybe? Wright was Captain America and Alonso could be the Hulk
Hey Sfes, hope you’re doing well. Now, Marvel… you may be onto something there! Nimmo could be Quicksilver because the dude runs everywhere.
Thanks bro. I’m breathing. How’s life? I guess McNeil would be Squirrel Girl/boy. Piazza Wolverine… deGrom is unbeatable so maybe Captain Marvel…
Speaking of which I fully enjoyed you guys smashing Thor last night.
So the Reds are 100 dollars richer..
For insight on this move, RIDDLE me this !!
Is getting Riddle a joke?⚾️
Prelude to the Castillo for Alverez/Mauricio trade
No chance Alvarez is traded, none, he is the most untouchable of any Mets prospect
Not a chance the Mets give up one of them let alone both.
Then no chance they acquire Castillo.
I love how every novice baseball fan thinks it takes an org’s best prospect to make a trade.
Of the top 3 Alvarez, Baty, and Mauricio, I think Mauricio is the most likely to be traded if at all. Their Catcher position is a black on hole and Frankie A. Is the future there…. They don’t have a long term 3B so I don’t see Baty going anywhere.
Another amazin’ walk-off win for those resilient Mets. Phillies drop to 21-27. The Phanatic would be a better outfielder for them right now. LFGM
Retro Phillies….…. “Two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water. The other third is covered by Garry Maddox.” – Ralph Kiner.
Todays Phillies ……really hard to watch….
Can someone tell Eppler we need pitching help? The guy has absolutely no clue as a GM. Thanks to the owners restricting their personal from interviewing so we got stuck with this retread. Guy has never ever made a pitching move that mattered. Besides that Sandy imposed his required approval on any and all personnel transactions, this team will never get anything done. Oh and I don’t want to hear what about Scherzer. We’ll let me tell you this, cohen brought scherzer here not incompetent billy eppler!
@icantstandyous, Chris Bassitt was a great acquisition, overall has pitched solidly, thrown a lot of innings saving the bullpen and on more than one occasion has pitched ace like games. Adam Ottavino was slow out of the gate but has looked good in May. Do they not count as well?
icantstandyous….bad take from a really bad name.
So you think that the front office is spending all their time looking for fill-in pieces like this instead of pitching or other possible acquisitions? Between that and the rest of your post, do you realize how clueless you sound? They have an 8.5 game lead in their division, and you say that the GM is incompetent.
Riddle is truly the bottom of the barrel at age 30, not even putting up good numbers in the minors. Since he’s the best the Mets can do at this point in the season, know that they’re in serious trouble if their MLB squad suffers significant injuries.
Great to see Luigi step up, and while Escobar has been poor, he hasn’t been hopeless. This is still a Mets FO that plays frontline players into the ground, though, so expect to see Nimmo and McNeil among others out for extended periods after being overused / abused.
The real question is, can they hold it to 6 weeks of .450 ball, or is it going to be closer to .300 once injuries reduce the front line to
Bassitt
Peterson
Walker
T Williams
T Cahill
Nido
Alonso
Guillorme
Lindor
Escobar
Jankowski
Canha
Plummer
Dom / JDD
This is the most terrible doom and gloom take I’ve ever read. Better take your meds, Eeyore
Right? Enjoy this, Eat it up, Savor the feeling. I want to see .667. I want 108 wins. I want 1986! JackStrawb predicting .300 ball.
He’s also saying that the Mets “plays players into the ground”. I see zero evidence that the Mets play their best players any more than normal but who needs evidence when you can just make stuff up.