There exists two Dilson Herreras.  The first Dilson Herrera is the player who absolutely rakes in the minors hitting .310/.362/.504 over two seasons at AAA.  This is the player the Mets see as their second basemen of the future.  They see him being the Mets everyday second baseman as soon as Opening Day 2017.

Then there is the other Dilson Herrera.  This Herrera has struggled at the plate in his limited time in the majors.  When Daniel Murphy went down in 2014, Herrera struggled in the 18 games he did play hitting only .220/.303/.407.  Last year, when David Wright went down, Herrera was first summoned as the Mets long-term plan to improve the team.  Herrera struggled again only hitting .195/.290/.317 in 25 games.  Ultimately this forced the Mets to start looking elsewhere to fulfill the void left by Wright’s injury.  It seems the Mets believe the Dilson Herrea who has struggled in the majors is the true Dilson Herrera.

In 2016, David Wright went down again.  However, this time, the Mets did not turn to Herrera.  Instead, they went with a combination of Eric Campbell and Ty Kelly until Wilmer Flores returned from the disabled list.  Even when the Mets lost Lucas Duda to his own long-term injury, the Mets still refrained from calling-up Herrera.  Instead, they made a trade for James Loney.  You could make the argument that the Mets could have moved Neil Walker and moved him to third base.  However, the Mets made the arguably rational decision not to ask Walker to play a position he has only played 15 times in his career and a position he hasn’t played in about 10 years.  With that in mind, it didn’t make sense to call-up Herrera as he would have had to stay on the bench.  You want a young player like him getting regular at bats and improving.  It is hard to do that from the bench.  Overall, the Mets seemed content to go with Loney and Flores at the corner infield positions.

Yes, the Mets have struggled offensively with Flores and Loney at the corner infield positions.  However, it’s hard to blame either of them for these struggles.  Loney has hit a respectable .291/.349/.405 since coming over to the Mets.  Since he has returned from the disabled list and taken over third base responsibilities, Flores has hit .262/.319/.415.  The production isn’t exactly awe-inspiring, but they are solid numbers not only for temporary replacements, but also for bottom of the lineup hitters.  Still, the Mets have World Series aspirations, and they realize that if they want to get to that point, they probably need to do better than Loney and Flores on the corners.

Accordingly, the Mets have begun to consider different possibilities.  Next week, the Mets are going to bring in Yulieski Gourriel for a workout presumably to see if he is capable of playing second or third base.  Also, it seems increasingly likely that the Mets will bring Jose Reyes back to Queens to either play second or third.  If the Mets were to bring either Gourriel or Reyes aboard, it is at least possible, that move would require the Mets moving Walker to third.  With that in mind, it is surprising that the Mets haven’t at least investigated the possibility of calling-up Herrera to play second.  It’s simply ponderous.

If you want justification for the Mets decision, you could point to Herrera only hitting .290/.337/.496 in AAA this year.  However, this overlooks the fact that Herrera had an extremely slow start after dealing with some early season injuries.  Since April 24th, Herrera is hitting .301/.354/.488 with 13 doubles, two triples, and 11 homers.  Over the course of the entire season, Herrera is hitting .338/.385/.606 with runners in scoring position.  Herrera is hitting, and he can certainly help the Mets.  It is surprising that the Mets are going to pursue other opportunities before even giving Herrera a look in the majors.  It’s even more surprising given the fact that they have also given Kelly and Matt Reynolds opportunities this year.

The Mets haven’t even tried calling up Herrera through the Mets offensive struggles.  They gave lesser prospects chances at playing time.  Now, they are looking outside the organization for offensive help.  Overall, while no one is saying it publicly, it seems that the Mets are not as confident in Herrera as they once were.  It’s odd that it may have come to this when Herrera is still only 22 years old.

Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com