Buck’s ‘Regular Irregular’ Keeps New York Mets Afloat

It takes a lot to win a World Championship in Major League Baseball. Successfully getting through injuries is one of the biggest obstacles that teams face. New York Mets manager Buck Showalter certainly knows the value of a player that he can plug into a few different positions in the field and can competently handle the bat when coming off bench or when put into the everyday line-up. This year, that's Buck's "regular irregular."

27 year-old, Luis Guillorme came up with the Mets in 2018. In just 52 games under his new skipper Showalter, Guillorme has already played 2nd base, shortstop, 3rd base and Designated Hitter. In 2022, Guillorme has reached his career high in at-bats with 170 and it's not even July yet. At this pace he will end up with close to 400 plate appearances. Buck's faith in the utility infielder is paying off at the plate and in the field. “If I can’t contribute on one side of the ball, I’m going to try to contribute on the other,” Guillorme told nypost.com. “If I can’t get a hit, nobody else can get a hit. That’s the way I look at it.”

According to Mark W. Sanchez of nypost.com, Showalter campaigned for the All-Star voting to include a utility spot so Guillorme, whose name cannot be found on the ballot, could see his play be recognized. Luis Guillorme was definitely happy to hear that and agreed with his manager. “There’s a lot of utilities on a lot of teams,” Guillorme told The Post.

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Luis Guillorme has more than produced, batting .365 in the month of May and his currently hitting .307, which put him 9th in the National League if he had enough at-bats. Guillorme was asked if playing for Buck Showalter has helped him. "It’s great,” Guillorme told nypost.com. “He’s given me the vote of confidence. He’s thrown me out there. He’s letting me play. I couldn’t be any happier.”

Mets fans know the value that Luis Guillorme has brought to this team over the past few years and now he is finally getting some well deserved recognition. Leave it to Buck Showalter to get more out of an underutilized resource. It has certainly paid off, again.