According to Betsy Helfand of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the New York Mets plan to call up Dominic Smithto fill the open roster space left by the absence of Jay Bruce going on Paternity Leave.
Helfand also reports the Mets are promoting lefty reliever Buddy Baumann from Triple-A Las Vegas. Mets right-handed reliever Hansel Robles is likely to be placed on the disabled list after leaving his last appearance with an apparent knee injury. His X-ray came back negative and was headed to New York for a MRI.
Bruce, who will be with his wife this weekend for the birth of their second child, is expected to miss the upcoming series with the Phillies in Philadephia.
Smith, 22, injured his quad running out a base hit in his first Grapefruit League at-bat this spring and did not make the Mets out of Spring Training.
He is currently slashing .278/.390/.417 with two home runs, twelve RBI, and eight doubles with Triple-A Las Vegas, playing first base.
While Smith may not be the ideal candidate to replace an outfielder, there are potential benefits to the short-term call-up specifically with the Phillies pitching staff not having a single lefty on it.
Baumann, 30, was claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres on April 27. He has allowed one earned run in 4.2 innings for the Las Vegas 51s since being claimed. In that span he has given up two hits, four walks and struck out four. He faced 11 lefties in his time for Vegas, he struck out eight of them and allowed only one hit.
He has pitched in only one major league game this season allowing two earned runs and getting one out. He had 6.2 scoreless innings in Triple-A for the Padres earlier this season with two hits allowed, five walks and nine strikeouts.
The former seventh round pick has a 3.58 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 10.1 K/9 in 27.2 major league innings that spreads over three seasons for the Padres.
Of note, in his brief major league career he has held lefties to a .163/.321/.256 slash line in 54 plate appearances.
Baumann is a three-pitch guy that averages 90 mph on his fastball while mixing in a slider and changeup. He is already on the 40-man roster. Baumann will not be available to pitch tonight as he serves a one-game suspension stemming from the Padres and Rockies brawl in April.
