May 15: The Mets made the moves for Wendle, Vientos, Lucchesi and Ramírez official today. They also chose the right hand Jose Butto and remember the right hand Grant Hartwig. Buttó's pick may be a little surprising since he has a 3.08 ERA on the year, but that's despite a 13.5% walk rate. The Mets have both Taylor Megill again David Peterson in rehab assignments and could be options to rejoin the rotation soon.
May 14: Mets select veteran Joey Wendle per share, as previously reported (in X) by Ben Yoel. SNY's Andy Martino reported earlier this evening (in X) that New York planned to remember Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse before tomorrow night's game against the Phillies.
It's not the only move for the upcoming show. Dan Martin and Joel Sherman of the New York Post report that New York will miss a left-hander Joey Lucchesi to make a start for tomorrow. Good reliever John Ramírez will be nominated for a share as a complementary move, according to the Post.
Wendle had a disappointing season in Queens. New York signed the former All-Star to a $2MM free agent deal. It was a low move after he slumped to a .212/.248/.306 line in 112 games for the Marlins last year. Wendle hasn't had the best start to the season. In 18 contests, he hit .222/.243/.250 with one extra-base hit (double). He struck out nine times and drew one walk in 37 trips to the plate.
New York signed Wendle primarily for defensive flexibility. He generally rated as an above-average catcher and defender throughout the infield in his career. He struggled on that side of the ball during his stint with Queens, committing three errors in 89 innings. The Mets stuck with Wendle over Zack Short two weeks ago, but now they will move forward without a clear backup at the back Francisco Lindor.
Swapping Vientos for Wendle provides more offense Carlos Mendozain the infield. The 24-year-old is off to another good start in Syracuse, hitting .284/.376/.500 with six homers in 31 games. While Vientos is hitting at a high 28.6% clip, he has been looking for power in four Triple-A seasons. That hasn't translated into MLB success yet, but he's clearly a better bet than Wendle right now.
Brett Baty he was a third baseman at Queens. The former top prospect didn't hit well, hitting a .236/.299/.325 line through 135 plate appearances. He will stick in the lineup but may lose at-bats to Vientos, especially against left-handed pitching. Philadelphia will turn to the southpaw Guard Suárez tomorrow, so it looks like Vientos will get a nod in the hot corner.
Lucchesi will take the ball against Suárez in what will be his first game of the season. The southpaw has started seven games for Syracuse, working to a 2.58 ERA over 38 1/3 innings. He also had a 2.89 ERA in nine major league starts last season, though he never missed many at-bats at either level. Lucchesi struck out 16.4% of MLB opponents last season and has a 17.8% strikeout rate in Triple-A this year.
It is possible that this proves the beginning of the place. Adrian Houser was supposed to take the ball Wednesday, but Sherman and Mike Puma wrote that plans changed while the righty warmed up so he could take advantage of today's game. While Houser did not compete in the game, he threw enough to knock him out of tomorrow's race.
That proved to be an unfortunate sequence of events for Ramírez, who gave up his roster spot to Lucchesi. This will be the third DFA of the season for the 29-year-old, who cannot be selected from the minor leagues. This is the second time the Mets have cut him. Ramírez started the year in Queens and was DFA within weeks. New York traded him to the Orioles and said he was back last week after being waived by Baltimore.
As for the lineup shuffle, Ramírez threw 14 1/3 innings over 10 appearances. Despite striking out 17 of 65 batters (a solid 26.2% strikeout rate), he has allowed 11 runs. Ramírez has a velocity in the mid-90s and misses bats at about the same rate in the majors, but he has walked more than 12% of the batters he has faced in his career.
The Mets will have a week to trade or waive both Wendle and Ramírez once they officially announce DFAs. Wendle has enough additional service time to decline a minor league assignment while retaining his salary, so he will likely become a free agent if no team trades him. These measures will reduce the number of 40 men in New York to 38.
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