The New York Mets lineup got dealt a blow as they prepared to take on the Boston Red Sox and attempt to catch the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race. Although, the blow was a happy one.
On Monday, J.D. Martinez was placed on the paternity list, and the Mets have called up a veteran outfielder from Triple-A Syracuse in his place.
The Mets have recalled DJ Stewart
According to Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, the Mets have recalled outfielder DJ Stewart from Triple-A Syracuse to take Martinez’s roster spot.
Stewart has a second-half hero in 2023 for the blue and orange, which was enough to garner him a roster spot on opening day despite a subpar spring training.
The Florida native Stewart struggled to get going this season and slashed .172/.326/.298 across 71 big league games, with five home runs and 19 RBIs before being sent down to Triple-A at the end of July.
The 30-year-old fared much better in the minor leagues, slashing .275/.444/.435 across 22 games with two home runs and four RBIs.
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What does this mean for the Mets?
The move to call up Stewart, albeit for only a couple of days, is a bit surprising. The Florida native has been hitting the cover off the ball in Syracuse.
Still, with Stewart being called up and already playing the outfield, it leads to the belief that Pablo Reyes, who was recently called up, won’t be playing the outfield in the major leagues despite having some experience.
Perhaps rather than playing regularly, Reyes will just get spot starts in the infield and come off the bench in pinch-running situations.
Also, with Martinez only designated hitting, the blue and orange could have gotten away with calling up a bullpen arm to use in a long relief situation before sending them back down once Martinez returns in an attempt to save the bullpen if a game were to get out of hand. Still, perhaps they didn’t feel comfortable enough with any of their options in Triple-A.
Time will tell what sort of impact Stewart makes, but barring a strenuous day or two, this trip to the major leagues figures to be relatively short.
