Early NY Mets spring training lineups are trying to arrange a spot on the depth chart

Through three New York Mets spring training games, we’ve seen very little of the regulars. Mark Vientos playing on Sunday and Monday was the closest thing to tasting actual regular season baseball. After Saturday’s appearance by Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, and Juan Soto all in St. Lucie, it has been the travel team to take the field representing the orange and blue.

This isn’t uncommon for home spring training games to include the stars or regulars and the ones on the road to feature the B-squad. Clay Holmes did start on Monday with Tobias Myers out of the bullpen. Other than that, the early theme has been a chance to see who might be the best option to replace Francisco Lindor if he’s not ready for Opening Day.

The Mets are giving a lot of playing time to their potential Francisco Lindor replacements

Ronny Mauricio got the first start at shortstop. Grae Kessinger was the choice in game two. For the third game, Vidal Brujan was given the nod. This trio plus Jackson Cluff who had two hits on Monday are the most realistic choices for the Mets at shortstop outside of moving Bichette off of third base.

Complicating matters further is how the rest of the roster shapes up. The Mets shouldn’t refuse to carry extra outfielders with the unknown of Carson Benge and importance of keeping Luis Robert Jr. healthy. They had six outfielders on last year’s Opening Day roster with Starling Marte and Jesse Winker as more of a DH pairing than anything else.

Lindor making the team and being able to play everyday immediately will eliminate Mauricio from the competition. He doesn’t need to sit on the bench. On the contrary, an IL stint for Lindor makes him practically a requirement. Why send him down and choose an inferior utility man when you’ll have 3-4 plate appearances a day for even just 10 days? Give him those big league at-bats. Someone else might always get hurt before you need to send him down.

Brett Baty’s mild hamstring injury plus the sheer on how to allocate roster spots play a factor as well. Do the Mets really have the need for a player like Brujan? He’s not amazingly quick nor has he rated well defensively. He’s a DFA waiting to happen. He has the edge over Kessinger and Cluff because of his MLB experience.

There’s also Christian Arroyo to consider. He has had some big league success, but probably fits best as a corner infielder at this point. He played mostly first base in the minors last year.

However the Mets decide to fill any final roster spots will be determined by a whole lot of factors from performance to unforeseen circumstances with others. I’d make it simple and just carry the best players you have and not think too much into managing the game. When all are healthy, there are few situations where you’d pinch hit for anyone.

The early round robin of shortstops taking the field for the Mets has the competition underway. It’s one we hope has no winner. Lindor’s Opening Day status is going to be a late call.

Inconventially enough, Brujan left Monday’s game early with an apparent injury. Nick Madrigal all over again or something to wipe some dirt on and move onto the next day with?