The Mets announced they selected outfielder Ender Inciarte onto the major league roster before Tuesday evening’s matchup with the Astros. Fellow outfielder Nick Plummer has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to clear an active roster spot, while the club designated left-hander Locke St. John for assignment to free space on the 40-man roster.
Inciarte earns his way to the majors for the first time this season. The 31-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Yankees during spring training, but he was released a couple weeks back. He latched on via non-roster deal with the crosstown Mets fairly quickly, and he gets an MLB nod after just four games with Syracuse. Inciarte hasn’t hit over that limited showing, but he had a capable .252/.336/.408 line in 34 contests with the Yankees’ top affiliate earlier in the season.
Those aren’t eye-popping offensive numbers, but roughly league-average hitting like that would be more than serviceable given Inciarte’s defensive acumen. He’s claimed a trio of Gold Glove Awards during his time in the majors, receiving the nod each season from 2016-18 while playing for the Braves. His public defensive metrics haven’t been as great over the past couple years, but he’s still capable of playing all three spots on the outfield. New York’s starting group of Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte is one of the league’s best, but Inciarte adds a glove-first option to the bench for manager Buck Showalter.
St. John loses his roster spot six weeks after being claimed off waivers from the Cubs. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game in Queens, spending the entirety of his Mets’ tenure on optional assignment to Syracuse. Over 10 Triple-A appearances, the 29-year-old has worked 15 2/3 innings of nine-run ball, striking out 18 while walking seven. He allowed four runs in seven innings with Chicago’s top affiliate earlier in the season.
A former Tigers’ draftee, St. John has eight MLB appearances under his belt. The first seven came with the Rangers three years ago, and he got into a game with the Cubs this April. The South Alabama product owns a 4.25 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons. He’s likely to hit the waiver wire over the coming days and would have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he goes unclaimed.
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