If the Mets wanted to shake things up a bit to start the second half of the season, they certainly could.
With the Mets set to resume their season tomorrow night against the Reds in Queens, the team could shake things up quite a bit with several internal reinforcements if the front office were so inclined. All but one of these suggested moves would be pretty surprising, but it’s fun to think about the possibility of seeing them happen. So let’s dive right in.
Brooks Raley is at the end of his rehab assignment clock and seems like a sure thing to be activated from the injured list before the Mets’ series opener against the Reds tomorrow. In nine innings of work across three levels of the minors on that assignment, Raley has struck out thirteen, walked one, and has a 0.00 ERA. Any one of Chris Devenski, Richard Lovelady, Alex Carrillo, or Brandon Waddell could be removed from the active roster to make room for him. Carrillo and Waddell have options, while Devenski and Lovelady don’t. And if Raley were to pitch anything like he did for the Mets before he had Tommy John surgery, he’d be a massive upgrade.
Having missed much of the 2024 season with a bad hamstring injury and put up relatively lackluster numbers upon his return, Drew Gilbert saw his prospect stock fade at the end of that season. He didn’t get off to a rip-roaring start this year, either, but over the past month, he has been excellent at the plate. In 96 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse, he’s hit .291/.354/.581 with six home runs.
The Mets have gotten very little from the bottom four spots of their lineup all season, and giving Gilbert a shot in place of Jared Young seems like a low-risk, potentially-high-reward move. With Mark Vientos struggling mightily this year, Gilbert could either player center, left, or just DH in an attempt to give the bottom of the lineup a jolt. Gilbert would need to be added to the 40-man roster, which would require that someone else be removed, assuming Raley is activated from the 60-day IL and becomes the 40th player on that roster.
Nolan McLean has been putting up great numbers all season, having started the year with Double-A Binghamton before getting promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. And Brandon Sproat has recently joined him in looking very good, albeit over a short span of just three starts. One or both pitchers could help the Mets, and McLean would be the logical choice if the team decided that it’s time to temporarily pause the Clay Holmes-as-a-starter experiment. In recent starts, Holmes has labored mightily, especially once he hits the middle innings, and that’s understandable given the big uptick in workload in his first season working as a starter in a very long time. Like Drew Gilbert, McLean and Sproat would have to be added to the 40-man roster at the expense of someone else.
And last but not least, Francisco Alvarez has a 1.114 OPS since being demoted to Syracuse, and he’s really turned it on lately with a 1.363 OPS over his last seven games. Whether or not he hits the ground running like that upon his return to the big leagues, he will be able to give the Mets more than Hayden Senger, who has a 15 wRC+ in limited playing time at the major league level this year.