Mets place J.D. Davis On 10-day IL, designate Albert Almora

The Mets announced a trio of roster moves before Sunday’s game, including the placement of third baseman J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list due to a left hand sprain. The placement is retroactive to Sept. 23, but Davis’ 2021 season seems in all likelihood to be over. In corresponding roster moves, the Mets activated righty Sean Reid-Foley from the 60-day injured list and designated outfielder Albert Almora for assignment.

This marks the fourth time this season that Davis has had to spend time on the IL due to his bothersome left hand, and as a result, he made only 211 plate appearances over 73 games. Davis has also been in a rough slump for more than a month, which further reduced his at-bats since Jonathan Villar (who ended up getting the bulk of at-bats at third base during Davis’ IL stints) became the top choice at the hot corner.

Despite his late slump, Davis will still finish with very strong numbers during his abbreviated season. The 28-year-old has hit .285/.384/.436 with five homers over 211 PA, good for a 126 OPS+ and 130 wRC+. This essentially matches Davis’ overall slash line in a Mets uniform, since he has done nothing but hit since being acquired from the Astros before the 2019 season.

While hitting production hasn’t been an issue, Davis’ glovework as a third baseman and left fielder has been subpar, at times making him something of an odd man out as New York has tried to figure out to best deploy its roster. The Mets will have plenty of question marks in their infield this winter, and since they have already dangled Davis in trade talks, the club might be ready to move on without him. With three years of arbitration control remaining and those strong numbers at the plate, Davis would certainly draw some attention as a very interesting trade chip as the Mets look to upgrade the roster.

Known as a defensive specialist during his time with the Cubs, Almora was signed to a one-year, $1.25 million deal to provide some depth for the Mets outfield.  As it turned out, Almora was pretty average with the glovework, he spent more than five weeks on the injured list with shoulder problems, and his .321 OPS over 54 PA resulted in a minus-9 wRC+ and minus-11 OPS+. Since the start of the 2019 season, Almora has hit only .216/.256/.342 in 451 plate appearances, and he’ll surely have to settle for a minor-league deal if he catches on with another club in the offseason.

Reid-Foley hasn’t pitched since June 30 due to right elbow inflammation. Between this long injury absence and several shuttles back and forth from Triple-A earlier in the season, Reid-Foley has tossed 20 2/3 innings (with a 5.23 ERA) in his first season with the Mets.