Did anyone order a Gold Glove?
If there are any coming to Citi Field after this season, one should have Luis Guillorme’s name on it. The utility man has been flashing leather all over the infield for the entire season, coming up with more and more impressive plays.
Saturday, in the fifth inning of the Mets’ 6-2 win in the second game of their doubleheader sweep, Ehire Adrianza hit a slow-rolling ground ball to Guillorme. Instead of flipping the ball to first, he unloaded an 88 mph strike to home to gun down Travis d’Arnaud, who was streaking for the plate. Guillorme’s gutsy decision saved a run and kept the Mets’ 3-0 lead intact.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen that,” manager Buck Showalter said. “That’s a baseball-player play.”
“Luis has a great baseball clock.”
It doesn’t matter the position either. Guillorme has made starts at second base, third base and shortstop in 2022 and has 89 putouts and 166 assists to only three errors, giving him a .988 fielding percentage. That would be good for first in the MLB if he were qualified at any of his three positions.
It’s unlikely that Guillorme will end up with gold in his trophy case, because he isn’t qualified at a position, but it’s hard to imagine a world in which the defensive whiz doesn’t deserve one. He and Francisco Lindor have formed a dazzling double-play duo up the middle of the infield, and when Guillorme moves to third, he displays range that comes close to that of nine-time Gold Glover winner Nolan Arenado.
The 27-year-old’s teammates can’t help but gush about his abilities. After the doubleheader, Max Scherzer said he appreciated Guillorme saving him an earned run.
“That was a huge play out of Guillorme,” Scherzer said. “His defense, man, it’s lights out what he can do defensively. Kudos for him making that play.”