With the Mets in the thick of the playoff race and less than a month to go until the trade deadline, much of the focus is on what the club might do to address the bullpen.
Some serious internal help will come when Edwin Diaz's suspension ends on July 6 and Sean Reid-Foley returns from the IL (as early as July 5).
But while most of the attention is on the bullpen, the Mets have a potential situation developing in the lineup -- and a very intriguing option who could be plugged in.
With Starling Marte out for at least a month due to a knee injury, the Mets have been piecing the starting outfield together by playing either DJ Stewart or Tyrone Taylor most days.
And at second base, it's been the struggling Jeff McNeil getting the bulk of the starts as Jose Iglesias very capably backs him up.
Taylor has had his moments, including hitting home runs against the Yankees and Astros last week, but has struggled for the most part.
In 63 games this season, Taylor has hit just .228/.276/.370. And he's been scuffling especially badly against left-handers, slashing only .190/.217/.241 with zero homers against them.
Meanwhile, Stewart has not done much to build on the success he had last season.
His on-base percentage (.333) is decent, which is one of the reasons why his OPS+ (97) is near league average, but Stewart is slugging just .333. He has five homers in 60 games after blasting 11 in 58 games in 2023. Stewart has also been a negative defensively in the outfield.
As bench players, both Stewart and Taylor could be assets. As starters? They could put a crimp in a lineup that has been excelling over the last month-plus.
Regarding McNeil, he hasn't t been able to bottle the jolt he provided this past Friday against the Astros, when he had three hits -- including a missile of a three-run homer. He's gone 1-for-10 since.
