NY Mets look like they have already bailed on their Luis Robert Jr. plan

Due to injuries sustained by Luis Robert Jr. and Juan Soto at various points this season, the New York Mets haven't really gotten a chance to deploy their outfield at full strength in 2026. Having two rookies ascend quickly into the ranks of stardom helps, but it would have been fun to see how Andy Green (or even Carlos Mendoza) would have shuffled the playing time between Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, and his two veterans.

Alas, Soto is once again out (this time with a calf strain), which has given the trio of Ewing, Robert, and Benge to play on a daily basis. For the most part, that's how they've run the group out from left to right, with the rookies flanking the elder statesman in the corners.

However, with Ewing due to play center field in the future, it only makes sense to keep getting him reps there down the stretch. And so, the Mets recently made it a point to shift their outfield corps around, giving Robert his left-field debut in the big leagues over the weekend against the Washington Nationals.

In that game, he didn't touch the ball once. So why have the Mets seemingly abandonned the experiment so quickly?

The Mets must commit to outfield plan with Luis Robert Jr. and A.J. Ewing for the rest of the season

On either side of that left-field debut, Robert has started a couple of games in center field and received a day off. And even when he came into the game on Aug. 19 as a pinch-hitter for left fielder Cristian Pache, the Mets moved their defense around to put him back in center, sliding Ewing over to the vacant corner.

What's particularly confusing about this sudden change of heart is that it goes directly against the plan that Green laid out just last week. The interim skipper said the goal was to put Ewing in center field in two out of every three games for the rest of the season, with Robert covering the final third. Instead, it seems as though the team remains partial to keeping their veteran up the middle.

For what it's worth, Robert is a good center fielder, winning a Gold Glove at the position in 2020 and having accrued +33 Outs Above Average and +20 Defensive Runs Saved there in his career. However, he's barely on the positive side of either ledger this season, and he's due to be a free agent if the Mets decline his $20 million club option for 2027.

Ewing has not only been the superior center fielder this year (+2 OAA, +3 DRS), but he's also the man of the future at the position. Which, if we're being totally honest, is all that should really matter as the Mets start closing the books on a disastrous campaign that will almost certainly end with them in the NL East cellar.

We already saw Juan Soto move from right to left field to accomodate the arrival of Benge; why the team isn't insisting that Robert do the same for Ewing is baffling.

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