Mets non-roster invitees fighting for an Opening Day roster spot

The New York Mets came into the 2021 spring training in the aftermath of one of the most eventful winters in franchise history.

One of the biggest events in the history of the team occurred when minority Steve Cohen purchased a majority share in the Mets, and following this, they acquired All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor in a blockbuster trade.

The Mets also made several other big moves to round out that team, such as signing free agents Marcus Stroman, Trevor May and Taijuan Walker.

While the Mets do have one of the most competitive teams in recent memory, they do still have a few holes left in it, such as it’s bench and bullpen.

The Mets do have a good mix of players on the 40-man roster who could fill those spots, consisting of both minor league talent and major league talent who are currently on the bubble.

In addition to those, there are several non-roster spring training invitees who have performed very nicely for the Mets this Spring Training.

Seeing as there are a few spots left open on the team, either due to an unexpected injury or simply from opening up a spot to competition, it makes sense that each player in camp be considered for the role.

Regarding the non-roster spring training invitees, a select few have fought their way into that conversation and if they continue to perform well, one or two of them stand a good shot of breaking camp with the Mets for opening day.

Here are 4 non-roster invitees would could make the Mets’ opening day team:

Jerry Blevins

A name already familiar to many Mets fans, Jerry Blevins spent four years in New York from 2015-2018 as one of team’s primary southpaws out of the bullpen.

Over his tenure in New York, Blevins appeared in a total of 229 games, logging a 3.38 ERA over 138.2 innings of work.

Since departing the Mets, Blevins went onto join the Oakland Athletics the following year, however, they opted him to AAA and eventually traded him to the Atlanta Braves, whom he spent the remainder of season with, helping to lead the team to the NL East Pennant.

Blevins signed with the San Francisco Giants on a minor league deal for the 2020 season, however, he was released in March before the start of the year, and he remained unsigned for the remainder of the year.

Back with the Mets on a minor league deal as a non-roster invitee, Jerry is trying to make the case that he can still contribute to a major league team at age 37.

As of now, the Mets appear to only have one south paw set as a part of the bullpen in Aaron Loup, as fellow left hander Joey Luchessi looks to be slated to open 2021 as the 5th man in the rotation.

Given the abundance of power hitting left handed hitters in the NL East, the Mets bullpen surely needs at least 2 southpaws, so there is definitely room for someone like Blevins on the roster.

So far this spring, Jerry has appeared in 3 games, logging a 3.00 ERA over 3 innings. While granted, this is a small sample size, if he performs consistently over the final few weeks, he may be the Mets’ best option to begin the year.

Mallex Smith

One area the Mets’ have struggled with over the past several years is a consistent speed factor, but they have a non-roster invitee who could easily fill that role for them.

Joining the Mets on a minor league contract for the 2021 Spring Training, outfielder Mallex Smith is known as a “speedster”, having recorded over 40 stolen bases in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Prior to joining New York, Smith spent the first five years of his major league career bouncing around the league between the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners

His breakout year as a player was in 2018 as a member of the Mariners, where he hit .296 with a .367 OBP while recording 40 steals over a career high 141 games.

Despite swiping 46 bags the following year, his batting average in 2019 dropped to .227, and Seattle outrighted him from the 40-Man roster in 2020 after a slow start to the season.

At 27 years old, Smith likely has plenty of baseball left in him, and if he can regain some semblance of his 2018 form, he could be an asset to the team as a 4th outfielder and as a bat off the bench.

He is admittedly off to a slow spring, having only recorded 3 hits and 4 walks over 20 plate appearances, although he has driven in 3 RBI and recorded 3 stolen bases.

Regardless how his numbers currently stand, this is a small sample size and if Smith manages to pick things up over the final weeks of spring training, he could make a strong case to break camp with the Mets for opening day.

Mike Montgomery

Once again, now that Carlos Carrasco is confirmed to be on the IL to begin the season, the Mets have a new opening for a pitcher, and along with players like Blevins and Oswalt, Mike Montgomery is another non-roster invitee who could fill the void.

Montgomery comes into camp as a 6 year veteran of the major leagues, splitting time between the Mariners, Cubs and most recently, the Kansas City Royals.

In fact, Montgomery was a member of the 2016 World Champion Cubs, for whom he pitched 11 games for in the play offs from out of the bullpen.

While he was primarily used as a reliever by the Cubs during the 2016 post season, Montgomery is also a very experience starting pitcher.

For his career, Montgomery has pitched in a grand total of 183 games during the Major League regular season, of which, 70 of them were games he started, logging a career 3.84 ERA.

While his ERA is very good for his career splitting time between roles, historically, Montgomery has been a more effective reliever, as over his 114 games out of the pen, he as an ERA of 3.16, where as as a starter, his ERA is 4.19.

Regardless of what role he is in, Montgomery has proven that he can be effective as either a starter or reliever, which is an asset for any major league team.

As for his performance this spring, Montgomery has appeared in 2 games to this point, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings of baseball for the Mets.

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With the season just a few weeks away, if Montgomery continues to perform well and based off his career’s trackrecord, he may be one of the Mets’ best options out of the pen.