3 ways Billy Eppler muffed the DH spot in the lineup

The DH coming to the National League on a permanent basis gave the New York Mets an opportunity to hand over more at-bats to Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis, and even Robinson Cano earlier this year. It’s October and only Smith is with the organization but not even on the major league roster.

It was pretty obvious early on the Mets were headed toward some trouble at the DH spot. None of those three DH options were performing. As the season progressed, it was clear something had to be done.

Unfortunately, general manager Billy Eppler didn’t accomplish the goal of giving the Mets a capable DH to plug into the lineup every day. In more ways than one, the Mets muffed the DH spot.

1) The Mets needed to call up the kids earlier

It’s not fair to say the Mets lacked options at the DH spot when the season began. Who would have thought so many players would have failed? Where we can point our finger in disgust is at how long it took the Mets to promote the kids.

Mark Vientos didn’t make it onto the major league roster until September despite smashing Triple-A pitchers for most of the year. Francisco Alvarez, who was further behind, had to wait until the final day of September to make his way up. The delayed promotion for Vientos is far more egregious because he was already in Triple-A. He should have, without a doubt, gotten a chance in July.

The Mets continually waited to promote their young future stars even with a glaring need in the major leagues. As we’ve witnessed, none of them looked fully prepared. Sadly, there won’t be enough time for any to figure it out.