Mets activate Juan Lagares from disabled list, option Paul Sewald to Las Vegas

The Mets have activated center fielder Juan Lagares, who had suffered an oblique injury during spring training, from the ten-day disabled list. To make room for him on the active roster, the team optioned right-handed relief pitcher Paul Sewald to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Often injured, Lagares is best known for his work as a defender in center field. In just 79 games last year, he notched 8 DRS and had a 17.6 UZR/150. Both of those metrics are tough to take too seriously in such a small sample, but Lagares passed the eye test, too, playing his typical brand of excellent defense in center. At the plate, however, he’s been limited to success against left-handed pitching in his major league career. Against them, he’s hit .276/.322/.412 with a 105 wRC+, but his .252/.287/.346 line and 76 wRC+ against right-handed pitching have been abysmal.

As for Sewald, the 26-year-old got his first taste of the major leagues after being called up as the Mets’ eighth relief pitcher. He made two appearances and totaled just one-and-one-third innings, and he’ll head back to Vegas with a 13.50 ERA and 5.23 FIP in the big leagues. He seems pretty likely to get another shot, though, whenever the Mets need or want to call up a reliever from Vegas again.

And perhaps most importantly to the vast majority of Mets fans, Sewald’s demotion means that beloved outfielder Michael Conforto remains on the Mets’ major league roster.