Tom Brennan - LUIS GUILLORME: THE ANTI-MUNO

Over the years, when the Mets have had real needs on the major league level and the minors were sparse in helpful talent, I would talk up so-so guys who were toiling down in Minorsville, like Eric Campbell, Jack Leathersich, Matt den Dekker, and, yes, Danny Muno.

It was much more fun writing about McNeil and Alonso in early 2019, trust me.  Much less PR needed.

Well, Danny Muno was someone I often talked up and Mack would have an easy target back at me because, well Danny - OK, he was good - but not that good, if you catch my drift.

His first short season in Brooklyn was stellar, but after that, a lot of Lee Mazzilli Jr type of not-really-ready for-prime-time performance.   No need to rehash Danny's minors exploits, but because of the dearth on middle infield talent on the Mets at the time, he got his chance with the Mets in early 2015, when the subs on the Mets were hitting collectively well below .200 well into 2015 before Cespedes, Uribe, and Johnson showed up.

Danny went 4 for 27 with no RBIs.  Audition failed, never to see the light of major league day again.

Danny did have a .very decent .379 OBP in the minors - not great, but very decent.

Luis Guillorme is a better glove man than Muno ever was, but his career minors OBP was .368.

Luis did not fare all that well at first in his MLB debut in 2018. 58 at bats in, he was hitting .172, but salvaged it a bit in very sporadic duty to go 4 for his last 9 and inch it up to .209.

Gosh, the next season, 2019, did not look great at all either - through August 13, he was hitting .171 in very sporadic at bats. Shaky ground indeed, I'd imagine.  The Muno Guillotine might have been getting rolled out.

But thereafter he went 9 for 26 through season's end, with 6 walks.  Right there, he rescued his sputtering career.

So, Guillorme had to be rolling into the 2020 season thankful that he got more chances early in his career than did a Danny Muno did, enough to show that he could get on base at the MLB level - a lot.

Because once Cano went down in 2020 with his injury, Luis has taken full advantage of extra playing time, going 9 for 19 with 3 walks.  

That span from mid August 2019 to mid August 2020 (through Friday)?  

18 for 45 with 9 walks.  That's a .500 OBP! And I wrote this before the last 2 games - in those games, he was 2 for 5, 2 RBIs, and a walk, keeping that .500 OBP intact).

Holy Cow!  Who can't use a guy who does THAT?

Unlike Muno, he had enough rope to be able to manage to work his way onto the Mets' radar screen as a functional aircraft.

A .500 OBP is more than enough to make him a very bright blip in that screen.

Reminding me a whole lot lately of a former Met: 

Wally Backman.

Congratulations, Luis, keep it up.