NY Mets found a way to make Marcus Semien’s return satisfying

Marcus Semien hasn’t grown on New York Mets the way they hoped it would. Hitting only .214/.271/.341 with maybe his worst defensive stats as a second baseman in any season, his IL stint opened up a path for more of the young players to see action. We saw more Brett Baty at second base. A.J. Ewing even had opportunities at his secondary position aside from cetner field.

Semien’s hip injury originally had him scheduled to miss more time than he actually did. A bit of an ironman at points in his career, no fan is risking an ankle injury jumping for joy to see him back and yet the Mets managed to find a way to make it palatable.

How’d they do that? The easy choice to DFA Zack Short makes this an upgrade even if you’re way over the Semien era already.

Replacing Zack Short was probably the only way to get Mets fans excited about Marcus Semien’s return

Just 1 for 14 with 7 strikeouts and way too many starts since he was recalled, this is (hopefully) the last we see of Short on the MLB roster. It’s nothing personal. If this was his first time at the show with the Mets, maybe we would have been more accepting. It’s the fact he made the 2024 Opening Day roster in spite of a poor performance in the past and no real signs of being all that useful that has made him one of those players David Stearns never seems to give up on.

Short was already DFA’d once previously this season, but after surviving the waiver wire, made it back to Triple-A. Just a career .169 hitter and even worse so at .089 with the Mets in 28 total chances, his 2026 performance is right up there alongside Matt Seelinger and his 31.50 ERA as well as Tommy Pham who went completely hitless in all of his chances.

An understandable depth piece just to get you through moments of injury, the problem fans had was how much he seemed to play. A nagging injury to Bo Bichette to complete the first half had him starting all three games in the final weeked. He, predictably, went hitless and was even lifted early in the first game for a pinch hitter.

We’ve all been around long enough to know this probably isn’t the last we’ve seen of Short playing for the Mets. Likely to pass through waivers again because what could he possibly offer to anyone on a major league roster for all too long?, he’ll head back to Syracuse and wait alongside Vidal Brujan for another possible call-up.

Semien still has a chance to salvate his Mets reputation even if the climb he must make requires him to check off a lot of boxes. Getting swapped for a fan-favorite is never easy and Semien has done nothing more than save Steve Cohen a few million dollars in the future.

Before his injury, Semien played nearly every inning of the Mets season with at least a start in each one. Things should be slightly different now. Baty was swinging a strong bat and shouldn’t sit for the sake of Semien. Ewing, if Luis Robert Jr. returns, could be a candidate to get some second base action, too. The season is no longer about the veterans. Increasing trade value and discovering what you have is the mission.

When Semien first went on the IL, it was Ronny Mauricio who replaced him. The lost in the shuffle infielder would have created a more controversial situation had he remained in the majors in place of Semien. No matter how poorly Mauricio has performed, there will always be those who would rather see what he can do at second base over Semien. For those people, we don't blame you.

Semien isn't in the starting lineup for the Mets Thursday which tells us more about how the team feels about Short than anything else.

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