Neither of the moves was expected coming into the day.
The Mets have placed Starling Marte on the bereavement list, placed Drew Smith on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, and called up Mark Vientos and Dedniel Núñez to take their places on the active roster.
Coming off a down year in 2023, Marte has gotten off to a very good start this year. In 111 plate appearances, he’s hit .288/.327/.442 with 4 home runs, 6 stolen bases, and a 119 wRC+.
In 10.0 innings of work out of the Mets’ bullpen, Smith has a 2.70 ERA and a 3.02 FIP. He’s notched 11 strikeouts in that time, but his 7 walks are much higher than you’d like to see. The team says an MRI on his shoulder looked clean and hopes that he’s back when he’s eligible to come off the IL.
Vientos didn’t make the Mets’ Opening Day roster and has been playing in Triple-A Syracuse thus far. He’s made 98 plate appearances there and has hit .302/.388/.535 with 5 home runs.
Núñez made one appearance for the Mets at the major league level earlier this month. He went two innings in that outing and has a 4.50 ERA with the Mets this year, while he’s thrown 7.1 innings with a 0.00 ERA in Syracuse.