Reese Kaplan -- Luis Guillorme Highlights Another Mets Problem

Not long ago I wrote a piece about Luis Guillorme who was hitting much more solidly than any of us gave him the credit to be capable of doing.  Since then he's been blistering hot and upped his average into the .370 range.  That's not too shabby for a little guy known primarily for his acrobatic fielding more so than what he could do with the stick.  While I don't see a starting assignment in his near future, it certainly doesn't bode well for Eduardo Escobar who has struggled in his first year wearing a Mets uniform.

How bad has it been for Escobar? Well, once you get past all of the good teammate stories you read about the man and value how he works pitchers, the fact is he's threatening lately to drop below the .220 level in batting average.  Now if he was making up for it with his run production you might give him what I call the Dave Kingman pass, but right now to go along with his current (as of Tuesday) .224 average he has clubbed just 2 HRs and driven in 14 as the second month of the season draws to a close.  For $10 million he's on track to produce 6 HRs and 42 RBIs for the season.  That's not what the Mets had expected when he once hit 35 HRs and drove in 118 while playing for the Diamondbacks in 2019.  

Has it been a sign of steady decline?  Absolutely not.  He did have a blip during the 2020 shortened season which was not worth sharing but bounced back in 2021 split between the Diamondbacks and the Brewers to hit 28 HRs and drive in 90.  If you got a repeat of that performance for $10 million then you'd be up for General Manager of the Year (if such an award existed).  

Now, not everyone who comes to New York flourishes under the bright lights of Citifield and the New York media.  You have to look no further than Escobar's left side to reflect upon the first year in orange and blue for the teal-haired shortstop, Francisco Lindor (who, incidentally, just got the NL Player of the Week award).  Carlos Beltran struggled in year one.  It happens.

The problem for the Mets is that Escobar is on tap for 2023 as well at a $9.5 million salary and there's an option for 2024 as well (or a $500K buyout).  So you have to figure Esocbar gets a much longer leash than others might have if they were slumping in a big way.  After all, you have the less-than-sure-handed J.D. Davis allegedly capable of playing third base, Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme (remember him?) capable of playing there.  With Robinson Cano a distant bad memory, McNeil's role might not be quite as flexible as it once was, but you've seen manager Buck Showalter find more and more ways to shoehorn Guillorme into the lineup (even if it means playing McNeil in the outfield).  

Now for people who saw the Mets swallow much more money on the Cano DFA, it's premature to think they're ready to do the same with Escobar.  The more likely role for moving the man off the active roster would be to engage in an off-season bad-contract-for-bad-contract deal with another team that would give both Escobar and his roster replacement the opportunity for a fresh start with a new ballclub.  

The question is what is the long term solution for third base? That's a question that has plagued the Mets almost since inception with the exception of the Howard Johnson, Robin Ventura and David Wright years.  No matter what Guillorme does with his batting average, the fact remains that Jacob deGrom has more home run power than Guillorme does.  At one point (many pounds ago) Guillorme had speed as part of his game but that capability isn't evident anymore.  He's a great level of substitute due to rest or injury for a regular but he's not likely a long term starter solution.  

J.D. Davis would have to kick it into high gear for the remainder of the season to influence his role going forward.  Right now Davis is hitting a modest .221 with a single home run and just 9 RBIs.  Of course, his aggregated stats are from just 77 ABs whereas Escobar had 174 to produce his own.  Davis gets occasional starts as a right handed DH but rarely is asked to put his questionable glove to work in the field.  Doing better between now and the end of the year is more likely to make him into a trade chip than a starter at 3B.  

Right now all we can do is wish Escobar well and hope he hits his way out of this very long slump.  He's driven outfielders to the track several times lately so I take that as a sign he's making good contact.  Some of those balls will fall in or fly out and then this whole debate is pointless. Until then, however, despite the winning they're doing the club should be thinking ahead about other configurations rather than settling for a steady out 4 out of 5 at-bats.