Mets call up Dilson Herrera from Triple-A Las Vegas

By Danny Abriano
facebooktwitterreddit

The Mets announced after Thursday’s loss that second baseman Dilson Herrera has been called up from Triple-A Las Vegas.

According to the club, a corresponding roster move – expected to be the demotion of a reliever –  will be announced on Friday.

Herrera, 21, was hitting .375 with a .407 OBP and .513 SLG in 19 games played for Las Vegas entering Thursday night’s game.

Herrera has been playing second base exclusively, and it’s being reported by Mike Puma of the New York Post that with Herrera joining the club, Daniel Murphy will shift to third base until David Wright returns from the disabled list.

The Mets skipped Herrera over Triple-A late last season, and Herrera wound up hitting .220/.303/.407 with three homers and 11 RBI in 19 games.

Thoughts:

The Herrera promotion came out of nowhere, but it’s something the Mets needed to do for a couple of reasons.

More from New York Mets News

For one, the middle infield defense at the moment is untenable, with Wilmer Flores and Daniel Murphy combining to turn most plays into adventures while costing the Mets runs far too often.

Second, the offense has been struggling badly over the last week or so, and Herrera should add an infusion to a lineup that’s become anemic.

What will be interesting to see is what happens when Wright comes back.

If Herrera is hitting and playing well defensively, it will be extremely difficult for the Mets to rationalize sending him back to the minors and reuniting the Flores/Murphy middle infield combination.

The Mets are clearly not messing around this season, and that fact has been hammered home by the promotion of Herrera and the displacement of Murphy when Wright is expected back just five games from now.

If it were up to me, I’d make this simple…

Matt Reynolds and Dilson Herrera would be my middle infield combination, and both Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores would be bench players.

It’s hard to see the Mets resorting to the above scenario – at least this soon – but all options should be on the table at this point.

facebooktwitterreddit