The Mets are designating veteran infielder Joey Wendle for assignment, report Dan Martin and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. SNY’s Andy Martino reported earlier this evening (on X) that New York was planning to recall Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse before tomorrow evening’s matchup with the Phillies.
That’s not the only forthcoming roster move. Martin and Sherman report that New York will recall left-hander Joey Lucchesi to make tomorrow’s start. Righty reliever Yohan Ramírez will be designated for assignment as the corresponding move, according to the Post.
Wendle had a disappointing tenure in Queens. New York signed the former All-Star to a $2MM free agent deal. It was a buy-low move after he slumped to a .212/.248/.306 line in 112 games for the Marlins a year ago. Wendle wasn’t out to a much better start this season. In 18 contests, he hit .222/.243/.250 with one extra-base hit (a double). He punched out nine times and drew one walk in 37 trips to the plate.
New York signed Wendle largely for his defensive flexibility. He has generally rated as an above-average to plus defender throughout the infield in his career. He struggled on that side of the ball during his very brief stint in Queens, committing three errors in 89 innings. The Mets stuck with Wendle over Zack Short two weeks ago, but they’ll now move forward without a clear backup shortstop behind Francisco Lindor.
Swapping Vientos in for Wendle provides more offensive upside to Carlos Mendoza’s infield. The 24-year-old is out to another nice start in Syracuse, hitting .284/.376/.500 with six homers in 31 games. While Vientos is striking out at a lofty 28.6% clip, he has consistently hit for power in parts of four Triple-A seasons. That has yet to translate to MLB success, but he’s clearly a higher-ceiling bat than Wendle at this point.
Brett Baty has been the primary third baseman in Queens. The former top prospect hasn’t hit well, turning in a .236/.299/.325 line through 135 plate appearances. He’ll stick on the roster but could lose some at-bats to Vientos, particularly against left-handed pitching. Philadelphia will turn to southpaw Ranger Suárez tomorrow, so it seems likely Vientos will get the nod at the hot corner.
Lucchesi will take the ball against Suárez in what’ll be his season debut. 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 mark in nine big league starts last season, though he hasn’t missed many bats at either level. Lucchesi fanned 16.4% of MLB opponents last season and has a 17.8% strikeout rate in Triple-A this year.
It’s possible this proves to be a spot start. Adrian Houser was originally supposed to take the ball on Wednesday, but Sherman writes that plans changed when the righty warmed up for possible relief work in today’s game. While Houser didn’t enter the game, he threw enough in the bullpen to take him out of the running to start tomorrow.
More to come.
