1 Mets minor leaguer not named Luisangel Acuna deserving of a promotion

New York Mets fans are eager to see Luisangel Acuna in the majors. There are a couple of reasons for it. Aside from the excitement he brings, the poor performance of DJ Stewart for most of the year has fans eager for some sort of a roster move.

The Mets roster is presently a little too redundant in the outfield. Jeff McNeil has found his way into the corner spots regularly in the absence of Starling Marte and rise of Jose Iglesias as a second base upgrade. This gives them three left-handed hitting outfielders to choose from to play right field now that Ben Gamel is on the team, too.

Calling up Acuna would be the exciting move. A more practical one would be to replace Stewart with infielder Mike Brosseau.

Minor league Mets infielder Mike Brosseau offers much more than DJ Stewart

Brosseau has spent most of his time in Syracuse playing first base or swinging a bat as the team’s DH. He has played a few games in left field, too. He has actually spent most of his career as a third baseman and has a lot of experience at second base, too.

A right-handed hitter who has performed well against lefties in the past, his splits bear out the same this year. In 48 plate appearances versus lefties, he’s a .290/.438/.500 hitter. He hasn’t been manhandled by righties, though. A .279/.372/.448 slash line against them in 199 chances has given him a lot of balance.

Brosseau began the season with the Kansas City Royals playing for their Triple-A affiliate. The 3 for 28 performance led them to release him. Since joining the Mets, he has been far better. The .308/.411/.506 slash line and 10 home runs in 214 plate appearances makes him one of the better players on the Syracuse roster.

Able to play a variety of positions and hit against righties and lefties, he doesn’t have those same limitations as Stewart. Brosseau wouldn’t have to start much, but could be an option off the bench to pinch hit for McNeil.

Unfortunately, the Mets don’t have another lefty to replace Stewart with other than Baty. Their commitment to milking more out of him in the minor leagues while teaching him second base is one of the reasons why they didn’t recall him for a backup role on the big league roster.

Two alternatives for Brosseau are Rylan Bannon and Luke Ritter. Versatile defenders as well, the only downside comes from Bannon’s lack of minor league options. Brosseau, amazingly, could get re-optioned to the minor leagues without having to pass through waivers. Earlier this year, the Mets strategically called up Mark Vientos during a stint when they faced several left-handed starters. Could they do the same with Brosseau if only to have a little more balance off the bench? Relying on the backup catcher for big hits is a bit silly.

If Gamel's performance in Triple-A warranted a call-up, Brosseau's has done the same.