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Mets Designate Deven Marrero, Outright Nick Plummer

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The Mets announced to reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday, that infielder Deven Marrero has been designated for assignment. That move paves the way for the activation of infielder Yolmer Sanchez, who was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox yesterday. Additionally, outfielder Nick Plummer cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse.

This ends a very brief stay on the roster for Marrero, as the 31-year-old was only selected on Monday. He got into three games but made just four plate appearances before losing his roster spot. He has now played for four big league teams, after previously appearing in games for the Red Sox, Diamondbacks and Marlins.

He was outrighted off the Marlins’ roster at the end of last season and signed a minor league deal with the Mets in July. In 32  games at Triple-A this year, he hit .236/.325/.358 for a wRC+ of 86. Though he’s never been a strong hitter, Marrero does provided defensive versatility. The former first round pick has played second, third and short this year, in addition to having played first base and left field in previous seasons.

With the trade deadline now gone and Marrero DFA’d, the Mets will have no choice but to place him on waivers, either the outright kind of the release kind. Since he’s previously been outrighted in his career, he would be eligible to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency.

The same can’t be said of Plummer, who was signed by the Mets to a major league deal in November, which was his first time joining a 40-man roster. He hit .138/.194/.379 in 14 big league games and .231/.317/.370 in 58 Triple-A games. He was designated for assignment earlier this week and has now cleared waivers. Since this is his first outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he is unable to reject the assignment. He will remain with the Mets as depth but without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

Injury Notes: Mahle, Meadows, Walker, Johnson

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The Twins are surely breathing a sigh of relief, announcing to reporters Thursday that an MRI revealed right-hander Tyler Mahle’s shoulder to be structurally sound. Mahle, acquired from the Reds in exchange for three prospects earlier this month, exited yesterday’s start after just 2 1/3 innings due to shoulder fatigue. That was of particular concern, given that he also missed time in July with what was termed by the Reds as a “minor'” shoulder strain. For the time being, there are no plans to place Mahle on the 15-day injured list, though it’s not yet clear whether his next start will be pushed back at all.

Mahle’s Wednesday start saw his fastball clocking in around four miles per hour shy of his typical 93.4 mph average, so there’s still some obvious concern, but the absence of a tear or any structural issues is about the best news for which the Twins could have hoped. In 14 1/3 innings as a Twin, Mahle has pitched to a 2.51 ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate. Mahle, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy are in line to make the majority of the Twins’ starts down the stretch, though they’re expecting right-hander Bailey Ober back in September and just this week promoted prospect Simeon Woods Richardson from Double-A to Triple-A.

Some more injury scenarios of note from around the league…

  • As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Tigers, manager A.J. Hinch announced this week that outfielder Austin Meadows has once again been pulled from a rehab assignment (link via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). Meadows first hit the injured list back in mid-May due to vertigo-like symptoms and returned a bit less than a month later. That return lasted only eight games, however, before he was placed on the Covid-related injured list. Just as Meadows was getting ready to head out on a rehab assignment, he was transferred to the 10-day injured list owing to the bizarre diagnosis of an Achilles strain in both legs. This now marks the second time that Meadows has had a rehab assignment for this injury halted. Hinch’s only update was that Meadows was headed to Detroit for reevaluation and that the Tigers still have hope he can return in 2022. It’s been a nightmare of a season for Meadows, who has been limited to just 147 plate appearances and seen his power disappear: .250/.347/.328.
  • Mets righty Taijuan Walker left his most recent start due to back spasms, with an MRI revealing a slight disc bulge in his lower back, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. However, it’s possible he could make his next scheduled start on Sunday. Walker tells DiComo that he is “shocked” to be feeling so good so soon after experiencing “the worst pain I ever felt.” Although he’s feeling better, he still won’t take the mound on Sunday unless he’s feeling 100 percent, per DiComo. If he is indeed recovered, it would be a tremendous gift for the Mets, given the current pressures on their rotation. With Carlos Carrasco recently landing on the IL and the Mets having a doubleheader on Saturday, having to make it through Sunday without Walker would certainly be a challenge. How his back responds over the next few days will determine if the club can avoid that tricky scenario.
  • Padres reliever Pierce Johnson is heading out on a rehab assignment, tweets Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Johnson had an excellent season for San Diego a year ago, throwing 58 2/3 innings with a 3.22 ERA and 31.6% strikeout rate. The Friars held a $3MM club option over Johnson’s services for this year, which they exercised based on that strong showing last season. Unfortunately, Johnson landed on the IL in April due to elbow tendinitis. He’s yet to return, meaning he’s only been able to get into six games this year. After a layoff of about four months, it seems he’s healthy enough to get back into game shape. Once he’s ready to return to the big league club, he should give the bullpen a boost for the final few weeks of the season.

Mets Claim Yolmer Sanchez, Designate Patrick Mazeika

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The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve claimed veteran second baseman Yolmer Sanchez off waivers from the Red Sox and opened a spot on the roster by designating catcher Patrick Mazeika for assignment.

The 30-year-old Sanchez is a former Gold Glove winner at second base who never got going with the bat in his brief time with the Red Sox. In a small sample of 37 plate appearances, he went just 4-for-37 with an 11.4% walk rate, 29.5% strikeout rate and no extra-base hits.

Sanchez’s peak years with the bat came in 2017-18 with the White Sox, when he posted a combined .253/.312/.390 batting line while playing second base on a near-everyday basis. Granted, even that career-best production was about nine percent worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+, but for a player with Sanchez’s speed and defensive skills, that was plenty to make him a solid regular. His line dipped to .252/.318/.321 in 2019, but Sanchez also won a Gold Glove that year, so the Sox likely didn’t mind the tepid output at the plate.

In the time since winning that Gold Glove, though, Sanchez has barely seen the Majors. He logged just 21 plate appearances with the ChiSox during the shortened 2020 season and spent the 2021 season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate where he posted a grisly .216/.309/.352 line in 355 plate appearances. Things were going much better for Sanchez with Boston’s Triple-A club, for whom he’d turned in a .247/.377/.413 line in 305 trips to the plate.

The Mets’ infield is banged up at the moment, with Luis Guillorme out as long as six weeks and Eduardo Escobar on the injured list due to an oblique strain. New York recently called up top infield prospect Brett Baty to man the hot corner — Baty homered in his first MLB at-bat last night — and have Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso to round out the infield. Guillorme’s absence takes away the Mets’ primary backup to Lindor at shortstop, however, but Sanchez can give them a capable bench option to back up any of Baty, Lindor and McNeil while they work toward getting back to better health.

As for Mazeika, the 28-year-old has had some brief looks with the Mets over the past two seasons but has never provided anything with the bat. He’s a .190/.236/.279 hitter in 159 plate appearances at the MLB level. Mazeika does have a more palatable .272/.367/.414 output in parts of two Triple-A seasons, and the Mets have been pleased with his defensive skills. He’ll be placed on waivers within a week. Any team that claims Mazeika could option him freely in 2022, but he’ll be out of minor league options next season.

Dellin Betances Reportedly Retires

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Relief pitcher Dellin Betances has decided to retire, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The 34-year-old is apparently hanging up his cleats after a career wherein he pitched in parts of ten seasons with the Yankees and Mets. He had been with the Dodgers’ organization on a minor league deal this year.

Selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2006 draft, Betances was a starting pitcher in his first few years as a professional. However, command issues and various injuries eventually pushed Betances into more relief work as he moved up the ranks. He made just one MLB start, which came back in 2011.

The move to the bullpen ended up working out fabulously for both Betances and the Yankees, starting with a tremendous breakout in 2014. Though he had just 7 2/3 innings of MLB experience coming into that year, he ended up throwing 90 innings over 70 relief appearances during that campaign. He registered an ERA of just 1.40, along with an incredible 39.6% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 46.6% ground ball rate. He finished third in the voting for the American League Rookie of the Year award, trailing only Jose Abreu and Matt Shoemaker.

That will arguably go down as Betances’ best season, though he was still an incredibly effective reliever for the next four years. In a five-year run beginning with that 2014 season and running through 2018, he threw 374 innings, an average of almost 75 per season. He logged a combined 2.21 ERA in that time, striking out a whopping 40.4% of batters faced, though walking 10.7% of them, and getting grounders on 48.1% of balls in play. He racked up 11.3 wins above replacement during that stretch, according to FanGraphs, which was third among all relievers in baseball, trailing only Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen. He made the All-Star team in four consecutive seasons, beginning with that 2014 campaign.

Unfortunately, that five-year run of dominance has been followed by a four-year run of frustration, largely due to injuries. In 2019, he began the year on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. He wasn’t able to make his season debut until September, but tore his achilles tendon during that game after just 2/3 of an inning.

In spite of losing essentially that entire season, Betances hit free agency as a highly-touted reliever based on his previous track record. He agreed to a contract with the Mets that paid him $7.5MM in 2020, along with a $6MM player option for 2021 that came with a $3MM buyout. He ended up getting into 15 games with the Mets that year but struggled mightily. He registered a 7.71 ERA in that time, with his velocity noticeably diminished and his strikeout rate significantly lowered. He also walked 20.3% of batters faced in that short time. He was placed on the injured list due to a lat strain at the end of August and couldn’t return. After that showing, he decided to trigger his $6MM player option instead of returning to free agency. He threw just one inning for the Mets that year, which came in one April 7 appearance that will ultimately go down as his last appearance in the majors. He went on the IL with a shoulder impingement, eventually requiring season-ending surgery. His contract also came with a vesting option for 2022, where Betances would have a $1MM player option if he pitched in 50 games in 2021, which he came nowhere near.

After returning to free agency, he signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers for 2022. Though he hadn’t been effective for a few years, the Dodgers were willing to take a chance to see if he could recover any of his previous form. If he cracked the majors, he would have earned $2.75MM with further incentives available. Unfortunately, he logged a 10.26 ERA in 16 2/3 minor league innings this year, walking 16.5% of the batters he faced. After yet another frustrating sequence of events, it seems Betances had decided to walk away.

Despite the disappointing results of the past few seasons, Betances will surely be remembered for that five-year run in pinstripes where he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the world. He spent five full seasons striking fear into the hearts of opposing teams and their fans whenever he stepped to the mound. He finishes his career with 394 1/3 innings pitched in 374 games. He’ll go down in the record books with a 2.53 ERA, 36 saves, 121 holds and 633 strikeouts. We at MLBTR congratulate Betances on an excellent career and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Mets Place Eduardo Escobar On IL, Designate R.J. Alvarez

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The Mets announced to reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday, a series of roster moves. One of them is the previously reported selection of prospect Brett Baty, along with lefty Sam Clay being recalled to the active roster. The club also placed infielder Eduardo Escobar on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique and designated right-hander R.J. Alvarez for assignment.

Escobar, 33, has been playing hurt for most of the past week, leaving Friday’s game with the team referring to his ailment as “side tightness” at that time. Though he’s played in a couple of games since, it seems that the issue hasn’t abated and will now send him to the injured list. The infield depth was further banged up by Luis Guillorme suffering a groin strain and landing on the IL on Monday. With Escobar now following Guillorme onto the shelf, it seems the path has been cleared for Baty to get some regular work with the big league club.

The Mets and Escobar agreed to a two-year, $20MM deal in the offseason, though the infielder has hit just .216/.269/.384 for a wRC+ of 89. Outside of a miserable showing in the shortened 2020 season, that’s hit worst output in terms of wRC+ since 2016. He’s also striking out at a career-worst rate and walking less than he has in recent seasons. What role he has when he returns from the IL could depend on how well Baty fares in his first taste of MLB action.

Alvarez, 31, pitched in the majors in 2014 and 2015 but then didn’t appear in the big leagues again until last night. He was selected to the roster yesterday and then thrust into action when starter Taijuan Walker left after just two innings due to back spasms. Alvarez lasted 2 1/3 innings, surrendering four hits, three walks and three earned runs. He now loses his roster spot after a stint of nearly 24 hours and will head to the waiver wire in the coming days since the trade deadline has come and gone. Should he clear waivers, he would be eligible to reject an outright assignment by virtue of having been previously outrighted in his career. In 34 2/3 Triple-A frames this year, he has a 3.38 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 13.4% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate.

As for Walker, he underwent an MRI and received “pretty good news, all things considered,” in the words of manager Buck Showalter, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. There was apparently no structural damage found by the MRI, though Walker may miss his next start to rest up a little. Since Carlos Carrasco was placed on the IL yesterday with an oblique strain, the club’s rotation with be doubly shorthanded until Walker is ready to take the mound again. The Mets have Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt lined up to pitch tonight through Friday, though it will get tricky after that. They are scheduled to play a doubleheader against the Phillies on Saturday and don’t have an off-day until next Wednesday, August 24.

Down the road, one hurler who could potentially rejoin the staff is lefty Joey Lucchesi. He’s been out of action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year but will begin a rehab assignment on Sunday, Showalter tells DiComo. After such a long layoff, Lucchesi will need some time to ramp back up and won’t be able to help the Mets with their current arms shortage. However, rehab assignments for pitchers are a maximum of 30 days, meaning he should be an option for helping the team by mid-September.

Mets Designate Nick Plummer For Assignment

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The Mets designated outfielder Nick Plummer for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander R.J. Alvarez from Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday. New York has also formally placed right-hander Carlos Carrasco on the 15-day injured list due to an oblique strain (as was previously reported), optioned righty Adonis Medina to Syracuse and recalled right-hander Stephen Nogosek from Syracuse. They’ll need to make an additional move tomorrow when they select top prospect Brett Baty to the 40-man roster for his MLB debut.

Plummer, 26, was a first-rounder by the Cardinals back in 2015 and reached minor league free agency following the 2021 season, never having been called up to the big leagues. The Mets inked Plummer to a Major League contract despite that lack of MLB experience, and they indeed gave him his big league debut earlier this season. Plummer excited Mets fans with homers in back-to-back games in late May, but he went hitless over his next 22 plate appearances before being sent back to Triple-A Syracuse.

Things haven’t gone particularly well for Plummer in Syracuse, either. Through 58 games and 246 plate appearances this season, he turned in a lowly .232/.317/.370 batting line — numbers that loosely align with his career .222/.358/.360 output in just over 2000 career plate appearances in the minors. He’ll hit waivers or be released within the next week, as the passing of the trade deadline means that players who are designated for assignment can no longer be traded to other clubs.

The 31-year-old Alvarez will be taking a Major League mound for the first time since way back in 2015 if Showalter calls him into tonight’s game. He’s had a nice year in Syracuse, pitching to a 3.38 ERA in 34 2/3 frames — albeit with an unsightly 13.4% walk rate in that time. This marks the second time Alvarez has been selected to the Major League roster in 2022, but he didn’t get into a game before being optioned back to Syracuse and eventually designated for assignment (and subsequently outrighted). He’s up as an extra arm, and the Mets will need another 40-man move for Baty tomorrow, so it could be yet another brief stay on the 40-man roster for the former Padres and A’s righty.

Mets To Promote Top Prospect Brett Baty

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The Mets are calling top infield prospect Brett Baty up to the Major League roster, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The 2019 No. 12 overall draft pick will need to have his contract formally selected to the 40-man roster. Mike Puma of the New York Post further reports that the move to select Baty won’t officially take place until tomorrow (Twitter link).

New York also appears set to recall righty Stephen Nogosek from Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets that there’s a locker in the clubhouse for him. Nogosek will likely take the roster spot of Carlos Carrasco, who’s IL-bound due to an oblique strain.

Baty, 22, has split the season between Double-A and Triple-A, posting monster numbers at each stop (albeit through just six games in Triple-A thus far). Ranked as the game’s No. 26 prospect at FanGraphs, No. 28 at Baseball America and No. 38 at The Athletic, the lefty-swinging Baty has turned in an outstanding .315/.410/.533 batting line with 19 home runs and 22 doubles in a combined 420 plate appearances. He’s walked at a hearty 11.7% clip and fanned in 24.8% of his plate appearances so far.

Rumors of a potential Baty promotion were swirling over the weekend, although Mets skipper Buck Showalter briefly put an end to those yesterday, when he specifically indicated that a Baty promotion wasn’t in the cards. Whether that statement only applied to Monday or whether the organization simply had a change of heart matters little at this point. Baty will join the Mets in Atlanta and figures to see regular playing time with Luis Guillorme out up to six weeks and veteran Eduardo Escobar currently banged up. (Teams don’t call up prospects of Baty’s caliber just to sit them on the bench or deploy them in minimal roles.)

Scouting reports on Baty suggest that he’s both begun to elevate the ball more often in 2022 — resulting in an uptick in power output — and improved defensively at the hot corner. The Mets have also tried him out in left field on occasion, but with Guillorme shelved and Escobar not at 100%, Baty seems likely to be installed at his traditional position, third base, for the time being. It’ll be a telling trial run, as Baty has all the tools necessary to be the long-term option at the hot corner in Queens — and this could well be the onset of that anointment.

The Mets are surely more focused on their production over the season’s final few weeks than on Baty’s service time, but it’s still worth quickly touching on his outlook in that regard. Baty can’t get to a full year of service in 2022, nor will he be able to accrue enough time to push the boundaries of Super Two eligibility. Even he’s up for the rest of the season, he’ll still be on track to reach arbitration eligibility following the 2025 campaign and will remain under team control all the way through 2028. Future optional assignments could further push back those critical milestones, of course.

If Baty indeed cements himself as a viable regular in the coming weeks, Escobar’s role on the club will become increasingly murky. Signed to a two-year, $20MM contract in the offseason, the 33-year-old veteran has floundered en route to a .216/.269/.384 batting line through 409 plate appearances. With Baty at third base and Jeff McNeil at second, Escobar’s role would seemingly be relegated to that of a pricey bench piece.

Carlos Carrasco Diagnosed With Low-Grade Oblique Strain

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The Mets announced that starter Carlos Carrasco has been diagnosed with a low-grade strain of his left oblique. The team added that recoveries from a strain of this nature typically take three-to-four weeks.

It’s not unexpected news after the right-hander was sent for an MRI this morning. Carrasco departed last night’s start against the Braves after two innings with soreness in his side, immediately raising the possibility of an oblique issue. It’s certainly not ideal that he’ll have to go on the injured list and could miss around a month of action, but the club is also fortunate he’s dodged a more serious strain that would have impacted his availability for the postseason.

Carrasco started last night’s game and made it through one inning before weather forced a 55-minute delay. The 35-year-old stayed in the contest despite the long layoff, throwing inside the facility while waiting for the rain to subside. That Carrasco felt discomfort within an inning of getting back on the mound has led to some speculation that manager Buck Showalter’s decision to stick with the veteran after the delay could’ve played a role in the injury. However, both the skipper and Carrasco told reporters they believed the injury to be coincidental, noting that Carrasco had kept himself loose and felt fine until his final pitch. (Braves manager Brian Snitker also stuck with his starter, Spencer Strider, who ended up throwing five innings and 87 pitches).

Carrasco has been an effective mid-rotation arm during his second season in Queens, pitching to a 3.92 ERA with an above-average 23.4% strikeout rate over 23 starts. He missed most of his first year as a Met with a torn right hamstring, but he’d avoided the IL thus far in 2022. Carrasco had been slated to start one half of a doubleheader against the Phillies on Saturday, but the club now seems likely to turn to swingman Trevor Williams to pair with sixth starter David Peterson, who is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, as Anthony DiComo of MLB.com wrote last night.

The Mets hold a 4 1/2 game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. The division winner is all but certain to get the newly-instituted first-round bye in the Wild Card round, with a huge margin between the leaders in the NL East and NL Central. A starting five of Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker and Peterson is still an excellent group, but there’s no question the club would feel better with Carrasco also in the fold. They seem likely to welcome Carrasco back in some capacity before the postseason gets underway, but it remains to be seen to what extent he’ll be able to build his arm strength back up after the layoff. It’s possible he’s limited more to relief or abbreviated starting work heading into the playoffs.

The injury also has important ramifications for Carrasco contractually. The Mets hold a $14MM option on his services for 2023. That provision would vest (become guaranteed) if he throws 170 innings this season and finishes the year healthy. Carrasco has tallied 126 1/3 frames thus far, leaving him 43 2/3 innings shy of the threshold. There’s no chance for him to work that much over the final three weeks of the season, so the injury eliminates any possibility of Carrasco reaching the vesting trigger.

Of course, the Mets could deem a $14MM price point reasonable enough they exercise Carrasco’s option regardless. He’s been a valuable member of a team that could lose deGrom, Bassitt, Walker and Williams to free agency. New York will need to retain or add plenty of starting pitching this winter, and there could be value in simply keeping Carrasco around. At the same time, they already have an estimated $194MM in guaranteed commitments on the 2023 books and are facing a massive free agent class that also includes Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz. Even with a payroll that may be the highest in the majors (and could well tip over $300MM), they’re likely to lose a couple key contributors from this year’s club.

Carlos Carrasco Headed For MRI After Experiencing Side Discomfort

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Carlos Carrasco left last night’s start against the Braves after just two innings, as the hurler felt some discomfort in his left side. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to relay that the right-hander will head for an MRI today to determine the cause and severity of the issue.

Carrasco started the game and made it through one inning before weather forced a 55-minute delay. The 35-year-old stayed in the contest despite the long layoff, throwing inside the facility while waiting for the rain to subside. That Carrasco felt discomfort within an inning of getting back on the mound has led to some speculation that manager Buck Showalter’s decision to stick with the veteran after the delay could’ve played a role in the injury. However, both the skipper and Carrasco told reporters they believed the injury to be coincidental, noting that Carrasco had kept himself loose and felt fine until his final pitch. (Braves manager Brian Snitker also stuck with his starter, Spencer Strider, who ended up throwing five innings and 87 pitches).

Regardless, the Mets have to hope the MRI doesn’t reveal any serious issues. Side discomfort can be a precursor to oblique strains — which often cost players upwards of a month on the injured list — but that won’t be known until the imaging results come back. Carrasco has been an effective mid-rotation arm during his second season in Queens, pitching to a 3.92 ERA with an above-average 23.4% strikeout rate over 23 starts. He missed most of his first year as a Met with a torn right hamstring, but he’s avoided the IL thus far in 2022.

Any kind of injury absence could also have contractual repercussions. Carrasco is in the final guaranteed year of his contract. The Mets hold a $14MM option on his services for 2023. That provision would vest (become guaranteed) if he throws 170 innings this season and finishes the year healthy. Carrasco has tallied 126 1/3 frames thus far, leaving him 43 2/3 innings shy of the threshold. The Mets have 46 regular season games remaining, setting them up for around 8-9 more turns through the rotation. Should Carrasco stay healthy, he’d have a chance at getting to 170 innings — he’d need around 4.85 frames per start over nine appearances, 5.46 innings over eight starts — but even a brief IL stay would all but foreclose that possibility.

Of course, the Mets could deem a $14MM price point reasonable enough they exercise Carrasco’s option even if it doesn’t vest. He’s been a valuable member of a team that could lose Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker and Trevor Williams to free agency. New York will need to retain or add plenty of starting pitching this winter, and there could be value in simply keeping Carrasco around. At the same time, they already have an estimated $194MM in guaranteed commitments on the 2023 books and are facing a massive free agent class that also includes Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz. Even with a payroll that may be the highest in the majors (and could well tip over $300MM), they’re likely to lose a couple key contributors from this year’s club.

Mets Select Deven Marrero

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The Mets announced they’ve selected infielder Deven Marrero onto the major league roster. He replaces Luis Guillorme, who has landed on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain (as reported earlier). New York also recalled catcher Michael Pérez from Triple-A Syracuse, placing fellow backstop Tomás Nido on the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move. Nido doesn’t count against the team’s 40-man roster while on the virus list, so no additional move was necessary to accommodate Marrero’s promotion.

Marrero, 32 next week, is headed to the big leagues for the second straight year. He appeared in 10 games with the division-rival Marlins last season, frequently bouncing on and off the roster depending on Miami’s need for additional infield insurance. He didn’t reach the majors in the shortened 2020 campaign, but he’d also gotten to the big leagues each year from 2015-19.

A former first-round draftee of the Red Sox, Marrero has settled in as a journeyman utility type. He’s never made much of an offensive impact, compiling a career .194/.250/.284 line with six home runs over 367 career big league plate appearances. Marrero owns a .230/.292/.335 line in parts of eight seasons at the Triple-A level, including a .236/.325/.358 showing in 32 games with Syracuse since signing a minor league contract with the Mets last month.

Marrero has the ability to cover anywhere on the infield, with the vast majority of his professional innings coming at shortstop. He can play second and third base as needed, and that defensive flexibility is of value to a New York team dealing with a couple injuries on the infield. None is more notable than the groin strain that’s likely to cost Guillorme more than a month of action, but New York also saw Eduardo Escobar sit out two games over the weekend due to some soreness in his left side. Escobar is in tonight’s staring lineup at third base and shouldn’t require an injured list stint, but Marrero adds some additional cover if manager Buck Showalter wants to mix in a few more rest days for the veteran Escobar.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported Marrero was being promoted.

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