Mets put Jed Lowrie on 45-day injured list, reinstate Jared Hughes, option Franklyn Kilome

The Mets have placed infielder Jed Lowrie on the 45-day injured list, reinstated right-handed pitcher Jared Hughes from the injured list, and optioned right-pitcher Franklyn Kilome to the team’s alternate training site. The move give the Mets a fresh arm in the bullpen in Hughes, who needed a spot on the 40-man roster and got one with Lowrie being put on what would normally be the 60-day injured list in a full season.

Having signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the Mets before the 2019 season, Lowrie has made just a handful of plate appearances, all of which came very late in the 2019 season as a pinch hitter, and has not played an inning in the field for the team. A vague injury to his left knee or left side kept him sidelined for the vast majority of last season, and he participated in parts of spring training and summer camp this year before hitting the injured list to start this year’s 60-game season. Shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with PCL laxity in his left knee.

Kilome made his major league debut last night in the Mets’ ugly loss to the Braves, but he acquitted himself reasonably well. He threw four innings, struck out five, didn’t issue any walks, and gave up two runs.

As for Hughes, the Mets signed him just before summer camp got underway. He’s coming off a 2019 season in which he had a 4.04 ERA and 5.29 FIP in 71.1 innings, but he had a 1.94 ERA and 3.28 FIP in 78.2 inning sin 2018. Even if he were to pitch to his 2019 numbers, he’d be an improvement over several arms in the Mets’ current bullpen. Hughes began the 2020 season on the injured list because he had tested positive for COVID-19 in early July.