How will the Mets handle their roster in September?

It seems that MLB will have the same September call-up rules as they did a year ago, which increased rosters to 28 with a maximum of 14 pitchers. On top of that, teams will have a five-man taxi squad they can take with them in road games. It’s not quite like in years past, where a team could have a 40-man roster if it chose to do so in September. Still, it should be more than enough to be useful for teams like the Mets who are chasing playoff spots and seedings.

It’s probably safe to assume that the Mets will go for a 14-14 split with pitchers and position players. There’s a chance that once everyone is healthy that the Mets might go with an extra hitter. That seems a little counter intuitive, so why would they do that? Let’s look at the hitting side of the roster:

C – James McCann, Tomas Nido
INF – Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, Luis Guillorme
OF – Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Tyler Naquin
DH – Darin Ruf, Daniel Vogelbach

That’s 13 players. So why might the Mets carry 15 position players? You probably notice the omission of Brett Baty from the above list. When Guillorme returns, do the Mets want to have Baty on the bench behind Guillorme? Maybe, maybe not. Another player who might factor into the roster decision is Mark Vientos, who’s already on the 40-man roster. If it’s an open question if they’ll want to keep Baty, why would the Mets potentially add Vientos? Because Vientos would give them something that they’re missing – a power RHB to use off the bench. If Escobar and Ruf are in the game because a lefty started and the Mets want to pinch-hit for one of the catchers, Vientos would be a nice option against a LHP.

Another thing to consider is that the Mets earlier this month carried three catchers for a while. Given how bad offensively their catchers are, it might be nice to have an additional backstop, allowing them to pinch-hit even earlier than they do if a good scoring opportunity presented itself in, say, the fourth or fifth inning. With two catchers, you let whichever balsa-wood backstop is in the game to hit in that situation. With three catchers, you send up someone who’s more of a threat in that run-scoring chance.

And the Mets could go one of two ways with a third catcher. Michael Perez is on the 40-man and he did a solid job of handling the staff while McCann was out. He’s a veteran and he fits in nicely with the other two catchers already on the roster. Or, you could add Francisco Alvarez to the 40-man and promote him. It would give him big-league experience without actually needing him to make a dozen starts. Also, he’d add a RH pinch-hitting option that wouldn’t require using two players to replace a catcher.

In order to be eligible for the postseason, a player needs to be on the 40-man roster by the end of August 31. It will be curious to see if the Mets make a move with Alvarez to allow them to use him in the playoffs if he gets hot in September.

Switching over to pitching, the Mets have 13 active hurlers, along with Carlos Carrasco, Drew Smith, Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi on the IL. Carrasco is a certainty to be added once healthy, Smith a likely choice, too. Megill seems likely to go on a minor league rehab and then it’s a coin flip if he gets added to the MLB roster. Lucchesi is much more of a long shot.

David Peterson has been terrific as a SP this year but not quite so good as a reliever. The most likely scenario is that when Carrasco returns, the Mets send Peterson to the pen with the idea of getting him more reps as a reliever in September. If Carrasco returns in September, they could just make him the 14th pitcher, with no corresponding move of dropping a pitcher necessary.

But what do the Mets do when Smith (and possibly Megill) are ready?

Tommy Hunter seems to be especially vulnerable. If Peterson takes to relieving with additional reps, Joely Rodriguez could be the odd man out. And if he doesn’t start stringing a bunch of zeros together, Mychal Givens could face the chopping block, too.

Here’s what I’d like to see by mid-September, when everyone’s healthy:

Three catchers, with Alvarez
Six infielders, with Vientos added
Four outfielders
Two designated hitters

Five starters and the following eight relievers: Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Trevor May, Peterson, Smith and Givens.

My choice would be to go to 15 hitters because of the flexibility that three catchers would give the team. It’s not likely to happen, especially with the two additional hitters being rookies. Travis Jankowski is still in the system and it’s possible they would add him as a pinch-runner deluxe as the 15th position player.

The Mets will probably go to 14 pitchers, with Megill grabbing the additional spot. And my expectation is that Baty will be on the roster, with neither Alvarez nor Vientos in the majors.