The Mets head into their three-game homestand against the Colorado Rockies after being swept by the Detroit Tigers and losing nine of their last 11 games. It’s clear the offense has been struggling as of late, as they have been shut out in six of their 32 games this season — tied for the most in the majors with the Kansas City Royals.
Many fans are begging for the team to call up one or both of their prospects, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, in the hopes they can help ignite the lineup.
Mets GM Billy Eppler was asked Friday why the team hasn’t called up Vientos, as the 23-year-old is slashing .354/.431/.717 with a 1.148 OPS, nine home runs and 26 RBI over 27 Triple-A games, and said that it’s “definitely on our radar and something we’re thinking about.” Eppler noted that Carlos Beltran will be heading to Syracuse to see Vientos and Mauricio play and a potential call up could happen after receiving feedback from the scouting group.
“You know one of the things that we do is always just solicit the opinions of the people that are going through,” Eppler said. “So I’m talking to our Triple-A staff or our coordinator staff as they go through Syracuse. I actually talked to Beltran last night, going to send him through there right now too. You want to look at all of the objectives and all of the things that drive the player plan and what you need to see from the player.
“And there’s also some other things that kind of come into the calculus, you know, how much can you play the guy, what kind of usage, what kind of roles would you have for him at the major league level. And you’re trying to balance that with some loss development opportunity if they’re not going to play all that much. It’s just something that’s definitely on our radar and something we’re thinking about. I just wait for the feedback from the group as they go through Syracuse.”
Mauricio is also having an impressive start to the Triple-A season, slashing .342/.377/.605 with a .982 OPS, six home runs, 10 doubles, and 17 RBI over 29 games. Naturally a shortstop and therefore blocked by Francisco Lindor at the major league level, the 22-year-old has started to transition to other positions, playing in seven games at second base since April 21. Eppler noted that…