Ex-Met Luis Guillorme faces Mets again . . . with third team this season
The Diamondbacks' Luis Guillorme watches his RBI double during the sixth inning of a game against the Red Sox on Friday in Boston. Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer
PHOENIX — Luis Guillorme remembers the first time he played against the Mets, from the hugs and hellos to the weirdness of being in the other dugout and wearing a different uniform.
That was way back in April when he was with Atlanta (and made his debut with that club pitching against the Mets). Then he did it with the Angels early this month. And now he is doing so again as a member of the Diamondbacks — and temporarily living in the same hotel the Mets are staying at for the series.
In his first year with anybody other than the Mets, Guillorme has bounced to three teams, landing last week with the defending National League champions.
“It’s different. To go from being with one team for 10 years, 11 seasons, including the minors, to three in one year — it’s been an adjustment. But it is what it is,” Guillorme said Tuesday afternoon, before the Mets-Diamondbacks series opener.
“It’s just business. I’m just here to do what I know how to do: Play defense, get on base whenever they put me out there and go with it.”
When Arizona lost NL MVP candidate Ketel Marte, the second baseman, to a sprained ankle, they signed Guillorme, who had been released by the Angels two days prior. He had gone home to South Florida, which wound up working out great, because the D-backs were visiting the Marlins.
In a week with his newest club, Guillorme has been in a platoon at second base, starting against righthanded pitchers. He’s a safe bet to be in the lineup against Luis Severino on Wednesday.
After a few long months with the Angels, joining a contender has been enjoyable.
“I got a taste of a winning team, a playoff team in ’22,” he said. “It’s a completely different type of baseball when you play these types of games. Nothing against Anaheim; it is what it is. But when you’re in a playoff spot and you’re fighting and you’re up there — there’s a little different feel about why you’re playing.”
Pitching plans
The Mets will move lefthander David Peterson up a day in the rotation so that he can take the ball Thursday against the Diamondbacks, filling the hole created by the absence of Paul Blackburn (right hand bruise).
They also will call up somebody to start Friday against the White Sox, manager Carlos Mendoza said. That likely will be Tylor Megill, but Mendoza wasn’t ready to make that official.
“A little bit of everything,” Mendoza said, factored into the Mets’ decision to bump up Peterson. Among the perks: Peterson will face the better team, and the Diamondbacks likely will bench some lefthanded hitters (including slugger Joc Pederson).
‘Fresh start’ — or not
The Mets demoted reliever Huascar Brazoban to Triple-A Syracuse on Friday so he could get a “reset,” Mendoza said at the time, particularly mentally. They didn’t like how he handled recent poor outings, including Thursday.
Those plans changed when Blackburn went on the injured list and Brazoban returned to the roster. But the psychological aspect remains.
Brazoban, 34, said he had a lengthy conversation around the time of his demotion with bullpen coach Jose Rosado that left an impression.
“He told me the things that I could do better in that game but also with my body language and how I could improve upon that. We spoke a lot that day,” Brazoban said through an interpreter. “He just told me [to] continue with the same conviction. That day, I felt like everything was just falling on top of me. [The advice] was to keep that positive attitude and go out there and try to do my job.”
Brazoban, who has a 6.30 ERA in nine appearances with the Mets, said he viewed getting sent down — even if only technically — as a “fresh start.”
“Whatever happened has already happened,” he said, “and now it’s a new beginning and a [chance] for me to go out there and have the results that I actually want.”
Extra bases
Brooks Raley, out for the season after having Tommy John surgery in May, is with the team for this series “to see the guys,” he said He has been rehabbing at home in the Dallas area. . . Outfielder Carson Benge, the Mets’ first-round draft pick last month, hit his first professional home run with Low-A St. Lucie . . . The Mets have started selling “OMG”-branded gear in conjunction with Jose Iglesias in their team store. Iglesias said — with a big smile — that he gets a 20% cut.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
