Luis Guillorme said he was surprised when the Mets optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse last month.
No MLB player would want to be in that position, he said, especially when he felt that he had proven what he could add to the Mets.
He hadn’t shown much power — especially home run power — but his defensive contributions as a reserve helped the Mets’ middle infield depth.
Once the Mets sent Guillorme to Syracuse on May 17 and called up prospect Mark Vientos, though, the 28-year-old didn’t take much time before accepting his new reality, manager Buck Showalter said. Guillorme hit .241 across 16 games with Syracuse.
Pete Alonso going on the injured lost opened up a roster spot for Guillorme to return to the Mets.
Then, a spot at shortstop in the starting lineup opened up Saturday when Showalter held Francisco Lindor out after his wife gave birth to their second daughter.
And though Guillorme committed an error, he also hit his first major league homer since July 11, 2022 and added a double during the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Cardinals at Citi Field.
“It felt great just being able to contribute,” Guillorme said after the game. “Been working hard at it. The results haven’t been there like I want them to be, so today was great — at least on the offensive side of it.”
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Such opportunities don’t emerge often for Guillorme. Even with Lindor’s struggles this season, it was just Guillorme’s seventh game at shortstop in 2023, and the only reason Lindor wasn’t in the lineup was because Showalter wanted him to catch up on sleep.
Guillorme said after the game that Lindor kept him in the loop last night about the birth of his daughter, Amapola Chloé. Guillorme officially found out he would be starting when he arrived in the clubhouse in the morning, he said, but “it was something that was already in my mind that I had to be ready to come in.”
“He came in today not knowing that he was gonna start,” Lindor said. “He gets an opportunity, and he made the best out of it. He gave us a chance to win today.”
Guillorme made a costly error in the fifth inning, letting a grounder from Willson Contreras skip through his legs with two outs. He accepted responsibility for making Kodai Senga throw additional pitches.
But later that inning, Guillorme connected on a 2-0 sinker from Adam Wainwright and launched the ball 400 feet over the right-center field fence. Then, with one out in the seventh, he hit a double to end Wainwright’s outing.
Showalter said he expects Lindor to return to the lineup Sunday, which would end the brief opportunity for Guillorme at shortstop. But the consistent at-bats he received at Syracuse, with his 54 in 16 games nearing the 75 in 32 games with the Mets, “really sent a message” to Showalter, and Guillorme has felt those strides continue since returning.
“He’s a big league helper — and sometimes more than that,” Showalter said. “You like to see guys get rewarded for that attitude.”
