Mets infielder Luis Guillorme has finally found his role with the team

The New York Mets have found a role for infielder Luis Guillorme as his bat has caught up with his dependable glove.

Many casual baseball fans know Luis Guillorme as “the guy in the dugout who made the spectacular one-handed snag of a wild baseball bat.” But to many New York Mets fans, he’s always been known as a defensive wizard who had yet to find his niche at the Major League level.

During the 2020 season, all of that has changed as Guillorme has broken out in a way many Mets fans could’ve never envisioned. His glove has always been Major League ready as previously stated, but he could never find his footing at the plate for the Mets.

To say the potential with the bat has never been there is false, as he has shown glimpses of greatness at the plate in the Minors. For example, back in 2015, Guillorme had won the South Atlantic MVP after hitting .318 in with 55 RBI in 122 games played.

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Those numbers translated to Triple-A as the Venezuelan born infielder would hit .304 in 2018 and .307 in 2019. Both seasons he had played 69 games at the Triple-A level.

Guillorme would make his Major League debut back on May 9, 2018, and got his first Major League hit on May 13th against Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola (no easy feat).

Guillorme would then struggle to find his footing at the dish during the next two seasons at the Major League level as he would hit .209 in 67 at-bats during the 2018 campaign and .246 in 61 at-bats during the 2019 campaign.

However, something clicked at the midpoint of the 2019 season that would lead to his success at the plate heading into 2020. In the second half of the season, Guillorme would go on to boast a .300 average with a .866 OPS over his final 48 plate appearances.

Guillorme would just keep the momentum rolling when he was given his opportunity during the 2020 season. Part of this success could be attributed to the plate discipline he has displayed this season. Guillorme has only swung at around 13% of pitches outside the strike zone, where last season he swung at around a 20% clip of pitches out of the zone, and in 2018 he swung at 19% of pitches outside the strike zone.

Another impact the 25-year old infielder has made with his bat has been the ability to come through in clutch moments. Over the past two seasons, Guillorme has a 0.41 clutch performance rating at the plate, which is close to an above-average rating among all Major Leaguers. He has proven he is someone you want with the bat in his hands in a high-pressure situation whether you believe it or not.

Plain and simple it seems that the bat has finally caught up with his sound glove. This is exactly the type of development both Mets brass and Mets fans have been waiting for over the past couple of seasons.

Guillorme has always modeled his game off of former Major League shortstop Omar Vizquel, and while at this point in his young career we can’t compare him to the eleven-time Gold Glove winner, we can fairly conclude Guillorme has begun to establish himself as a legitimate player at the Major League level.

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With the ability to play three different positions in the infield, and now being able to provide the ability to come off the bench as a pinch-hitter with a solid bat, the Mets may be on their way to developing their own homegrown version of Eduardo Nunez, albeit with less power at the plate. There are always spots on Major League rosters for players with that kind of ability, and Guillorme has claimed his spot on the Mets roster heading into the 2021 season and beyond.