NY Mets depth chart: 3 players moving up this week

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The New York Mets depth chart has shaken up a lot recently. A demotion for Tylor Megill. A trade of Eduardo Escobar. The roster is looking much different than it did even a week ago.

As poorly as the Mets have played, there are a couple of players showing some positive signs and actually moving up the depth chart not necessarily just because others are moving down.

For a late June check-in, we find these three Mets players moving up the depth chart.

1) NY Mets reliever Josh Walker is moving up the depth chart

One of the more pleasant surprises has been how well Josh Walker has pitched through his first big league innings. He began the year in the minors, off the 40-man roster, and through 6 innings he has allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 5.

No one should be ready to declare Walker as the next great lefty reliever for the Mets. But based on what we have seen, Walker has certainly made a case to stick around or at least stay in the rotation of optional relievers on the roster this year.

The Mets have already gone through a couple of arms who haven’t worked out for them. Zach Muckehnhirn, Jimmy Yacabonis, Dennis Santana, etc. have all gotten their chance and failed. The team recently DFA’d Tommy Hunter and Stephen Nogosek to make some more permanent space for higher performers such as Walker. Will he stick around? He’ll have to continue to escape innings without a lot of damage against him.

The sample size for Walker is still minimal. Meanwhile, these two veterans on the Mets roster have played much more this season and have resumes to give us more of a hint of what we can expect.

2) NY Mets outfielder Tommy Pham is moving up the depth chart

The name Tommy Pham shall no longer be breathed in the same sentence as the letters DFA. Among all of the major Mets offseason moves they made, the one-year contract they handed to him seemed to be the most lambasted by the fans. It was notably underwhelming when fans were hoping for a bigger final addition to the offense.

Through some good times and some bad, Pham is trending toward the former. He’s now batting .255/.331/.471 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI. The runs batted in ranks fourth on the team behind only Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo. All of them have played significantly more than Pham so it stands to reason they’d be ahead of him.

Pham may have already moved ahead of Mark Canha on the Mets depth chart. The team’s original starting left fielder is hitting .242/.335/.387 this season with 5 home runs and 24 RBI. It might not seem significant but when we look at Pham’s .802 OPS compared to the .722 from Canha, the difference is clear.

Pham is getting more regular starts for the Mets and finding himself in the center of the lineup on a regular basis. While not technically the starting left fielder, there’s a good case to say he is higher than Canha.

3) NY Mets infielder Luis Guillorme is moving up the depth chart

The Eduardo Escobar trade has a large impact on where Luis Guillorme fits in on this roster. Escobar had pretty much taken on the infield utility role with a few more extra starts than Guillorme would or should ever get. By default, Guillorme has to move up.

It’s not necessarily just because of the open spot for playing time. Guillorme has been much better since getting recalled from Triple-A. He’s now hitting .256/.333/.372 on the season. He’s 5 for his last 16 with a home run and holding a robust .313/.353/.688 slash line at his side which could get him some more frequent spot starts and maybe even a few pinch hitting opportunities if the situation calls for it.

The Mets sent Guillorme down to the minors and swapped him for Mark Vientos in what appeared to be a move to help spark the fizzling offense. It worked until Vientos’ at-bats became infrequent and the move itself was worth an eyebrow raise.

As it turns out, Guillorme can have an impact on the Mets offense. He’ll only pop the occasional home run. Making frequent contact, being available for some small ball, and completing dirty work for the team is what he’s here for. He’ll share some of the same duties with Danny Mendick, but until he goes cold, Guillorme is the better choice.

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