Golden opportunity for Mets' utilityman Luis Guillorme

Luis Guillorme has a new target to hit, and it’s one he’s been eyeing for a long, long time.

The Mets slick-fielding utilityman is one of a slew of players who will be affected by the news leaked Tuesday that Rawlings will begin awarding a Gold Glove for utility players beginning this year. A source confirmed the new addition. 

“I need it,” said Guillorme, who has impressed while playing second, third and shortstop this year. “It’s not that I want it. I need it.”

Details on the award are scarce, because it's yet to be made official, and it’s unclear exactly what constitutes a utilityman. A source said Rawlings is still deciding how many Gold Gloves will be awarded, along with the innings requirement. Though it's certainly possible the innings minimum will be pared given the nature of the utility role, position players generally need to have fielded at least 713 innings over a team’s first 141 games (Guillorme, who was activated only Monday after a month in the injured list,  has only 649 2/3 innings on the field this season). 

But whether he gets a chance for it this year or in the years to come, it’s clear that the new recognition means a lot to Guillorme and players of his ilk. Once seen as benchwarmers who weren’t quite good enough to make the starting lineup, the role’s importance has ballooned as the sport has evolved. That’s been particularly true of the Mets, who were able to weather numerous in-season injuries thanks, in part, to their versatility on the field.

“It’s a great recognition – it is,” Buck Showalter said. “It should be on the All-Star team, really. And it’s a position. Try to win without them. It’s allowed us to do a lot of things that some other clubs can’t do and not have a dropoff in play, necessarily. It’s one of the reasons we were able to give some guys some time off the field.”

Guillorme has been an above-average defender this year at second and third, according FanGraph’s ultimate zone rating and defensive runs saved. Still, competition is stiff, starting with the Cardinals’ Tommy Edman, who’s played second, third, short and outfield, and leads baseball in defensive WAR, according to Baseball Reference. There's also the Diamondbacks’ Daulton Varsho, a catcher and outfielder.

But for a pseudo-position that’s so often overlooked and undervalued, the new goal is a start.

“I don’t think anybody does,” Guillorme said when asked if utilityman is the role he envisioned for himself. “I think everybody’s goal is always to play, but baseball has changed. I don’t mind doing it for something that keeps me on the field and keeps me playing. I’ll do it every day. It doesn’t matter.”

And for players in his role, that means, by definition, putting the collective above the whole. Utility players can often be subject to fewer at bats and starts, and they have to make a career finding comfort in the unfamiliar. Inevitably, that also means losing out on end-of-year honors, especially something like the Gold Glove, which rewards position stability.

“The Gold Glove has always been the one award that me, personally, being a guy that loves playing defense, that I’ve always thought about,” Guillorme said. “It’s always been the one goal in my career before I’m done, whenever that is.”

So sure – the announcement gave him a jolt of excitement. But it also heralds a broadened recognition for key components that have spent decades of baseball history firmly in the shadows.

“You start realizing the position you’re in, the situation you’re in, what team you’re on,” Guillorme said of the utility role. “So for me, I know that if [broadened recognition for utility players) were to happen, that would be my best chance at the moment to win one…

“Every team has one guy that does that, so I think it’s great.”

Golden, even.

With David Lennon

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.