5 Mets players who could benefit from expanded rosters

With the news that the Opening Day rosters are expanding to 28 players, the New York Mets have the opportunity to add two players to the roster who otherwise might not have made the team out of Spring Training.

The thinking behind this change is to preserve the health of the players. With the shorter Spring Training, the pitchers especially will likely not be fully stretched out on Opening Day. Teams will likely carry two extra pitchers as a result of this, just to provide innings.

The one caveat with this roster expansion is once May 1st rolls around, the rosters go back down to 26 players. So the players who do get the chance to make the team out of Spring Training will have to prove they are worthy of staying put, or else they will be sent down to Syracuse. Here're five players I believe could benefit from the two extra roster spots.

1. Mets outfielder Travis Jankowski

With the two extra spots, I'm close to positive that the Mets will use at least one of those spots on a pitcher, if not both. Jankowski is the only position player I believe has a legitimate shot at making the club, something that would not have been the case if rosters were at 26 players.

As of now, most of the Mets lineup is set. I believe the only spot that has a question mark around it is the DH spot. Robinson Cano I assume will get the reps to start out, but Dom Smith has been swinging a hot bat so far this spring, I wouldn't be surprised if he got the bulk of the at bats either. J.D. Davis is another candidate for the DH spot and if he doesn't get it, will be on the bench.

Tomas Nido and Luis Guillorme are guaranteed roster players as well. So with a bench of Smith, Davis, Nido, and Guillorme, the Mets have their four bench players. Offensively, it might be the best bench in the game with a ton of upside if Smith and Davis become the hitters they have been in the past.

However, defensively is another question. The Mets bench lacks an outfielder that can play anywhere other than left field. That is a problem. Right now, the Mets project to play Mark Canha in left, Brandon Nimmo in center, and Starling Marte in right. Marte has dealt with an injury this spring, and both Nimmo and Canha are injury prone. If Marte can't play center field due to his oblique injury out of camp, the Mets don't have a backup there.

Jankowski is not a good hitter. He's never hit more than four home runs in a season and has a .239 career batting average. He is however, an excellent defender and has speed. He's made two great catches already this spring and has stolen 30 bases in a season before. He's a prototypical fourth outfielder that the Mets lack. If they decide to give a roster spot to a position player, Jankowski will likely be that guy.

2. Mets pitcher Chasen Shreve

The Mets signed a familiar face to a minor league deal in Chasen Shreve just before their first Spring Training game. If the roster was at 26 players, I believe he would've had a great chance at making the team as the Mets don't have a lefty reliever. With a 28-man roster, I think it's likely he makes it.

I wanted the Mets to acquire someone like Andrew Chafin to fill the hole left by Aaron Loup who departed in free agency after his career year. However, I shouldn't really doubt the Mets when it comes to left handed relievers.

Guys like Jerry Blevins, Justin WIlson, and Loup have been absolute bargains for the Mets on the contracts they were on, and if Shreve pitches like he has the last couple of seasons, he will join this list.

Shreve was on the team during the 2020 shortened season. He held lefties to a .063/.250/.250 slash line in 40 plate appearances against him. The sample was small, but he was dominant against lefties.

He spent his 2021 campaign with the Pirates and was once again very effective against lefties. They slashed just .200/.289/.344 against him with three home runs in 104 plate appearances. Overall, he had a 3.20 ERA in 57 games and 56.1 innings pitched.

Shreve is a low cost arm who I have confidence in to get the job done. Would he be my first choice to face someone like Bryce Harper or Juan Soto? Probably not, but Aaron Loup wouldn't have been either before the season.

3. Mets pitcher Tylor Megill

Both Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco have been slowed down this spring with injuries. If either one isn't fully stretched out, I expect the Mets to strongly consider bringing someone like David Peterson or Tylor Megill to New York for Opening Day.

While Peterson had an impressive rookie year in 2020, I believe Megill is the better pitcher right now. Peterson really struggled last season before his season-ending injury while Megill flourished in his unexpected call to the show.

Megill made 18 starts last season which ended up being the third most on the team. In those starts, he went 4-6 with a 4.52 ERA. That ERA was not reflective of how he pitched for much of his time in Queens, as he really struggled to finish his season. i believe that was due to working a much bigger load than he had at any time in his life.

Megill has looked excellent thus far in the spring, throwing 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run. I believe he can make the team and follow either Walker or Carrasco if they can't sustain a big enough pitch count right out of camp.

Megill can also start games if either one of those arms end up on the IL. Preferably he'd be in AAA, but he's the best arm outside of the starting rotation that can pitch in a starter type role out of camp.

5. Mets pitcher Sean Reid-Foley

Sean Reid-Foley was a name I was very intrigued with heading into the spring. As of now, the locks in the bullpen include Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Miguel Castro, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, and Drew Smith. I believe Trevor Williams is as close to a lock as you can be, so he's the seventh reliever.

With the 26 man roster, teams usually have eight relievers. So that'd mean guys like Shreve, Reid-Foley, Claudio, and Megill would be fighting for one spot. Now, they're fighting for three.

Once the rosters go back down to 26, I'd be surprised if Reid-Foley is on the team. However, since the roster is going to be at 28, I believe he will make the team. Reid-Foley is out of options and showed enough last season in my eyes to give him a shot.

Reid-Foley was a guy the Mets could turn to when they needed innings. He'd be the guy to pitch early in games when a starter got roughed up, or would pitch late in games when a game is out of reach in either direction. While he isn't the best pitcher in the game, having someone who can just give you innings when you need them is a lot more valuable than people realize.

In Reid-Foley's first seven appearances of the season, he allowed just four runs in 15.2 innings pitched. Averaging over two innings and less than one run per appearance over a seven-appearance span is quite good.

His season as a whole was really derailed by injury and two bad appearances. In ten of his 12 appearances he allowed one run or fewer, most of the time recording more than four outs.

If Reid-Foley struggles or the Mets just don't end up having a spot for him when the rosters go down to 26 players, I can see them designating him for assignment. But since they'd likely lose him if he doesn't make the team out of the gate, I think it'd be silly to risk that when he's shown he can be a reliable piece, especially when they'll need innings when guys aren't fully stretched out.