The New York Mets Are Getting Creative in Center Field

Last season, Tyrone Taylor solidified his role on the Mets as a defensive-minded center fielder who occasionally came up with big hits. After all, his double off Spencer Schwellenbach in the 8th inning of Game 161 last year sparked a six-run rally in a game the Mets won 8-7, clinching a playoff spot.

In that 2024 season, Taylor had to split time with fellow defensive wizard Harrison Bader in center field, and while Bader signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal with the Twins this offseason, Taylor still found himself in a timeshare up the middle to start the season.

In place of Bader, president of baseball operations David Stearns went elsewhere for his next great glove in center, acquiring Jose Siri in a swap with the Rays.

Siri and Taylor provide a similar skill-set. Both can fly on the bases and in the outfield. Both play stellar defense and have strong throwing arms, and both hit for varying degrees of power, but have never found consistency at the big league level.

These similarities in playing style, along with the fact that both hit right-handed, complicated the idea of a strict platoon split.

Over the first 14 games of 2025, manager Carlos Mendoza was sticking to his split at a balanced rate, as Siri started seven of those games. In that 14th game — a 3-1 loss to the Athletics — Siri fouled a ball off his leg, fracturing his left tibia.

As he is now sidelined for an extended period of time, let’s take a look at what the Mets’ center field situation looks like going forward.

All stats and rankings taken prior to play on Tuesday, April 29.

Tyrone Taylor

Despite hitting stats that are subpar at best, Taylor still figures to get the most reps of any Met in center field. He has slashed .178/.221/.467 in 22 games, posting an OPS of .467. His 33 wRC+ is the seventh-lowest among MLB hitters with at least 70 plate appearances.

Nonetheless, he plays seemingly more often than he sits. Can some of this be chalked up to necessity? Yes. However, Taylor provides value in other aspects of his game.

Despite a below-league average OPS+ last season, Taylor still posted 2.0 bWAR. Defensively, his four outs above average (OAA) ranked in the 86th percentile in 2024. He also possesses the sheer skills to be a plus defender in center, with arm strength and sprint speed that are both in the 90th percentile.

Last night, he flashed the leather, making a remarkable catch on a full extension dive to take an extra-base hit away.

There are certain things that don’t show up in the statsheet, a concept that likely hurts Taylor’s overall value. On April 21, Taylor beat out a potential double play ground ball, which would have ended the inning. Next up, Francisco Lindor slammed a three-run homer to put the Mets up 5-1 over the Phillies, a game that they ended up winning 5-4.

Taylor does a lot of little things well that help New York win day in and day out. Despite this, the offensive struggles cannot be ignored.

One would have to imagine that eventually, Taylor’s bat will revert to the mean. It is hard to be as bad offensively as he has been thus far, especially when his expected batting average (.246) is nearly 70 points higher than his actual batting average (.178).

Even without the improvement offensively, Taylor’s defense and speed will still net him a large chunk of playing time, at least until Siri’s return. It must be noted that Siri hadn’t gotten off to the best offensive start himself, going just 1-for-20 in the early season.

Outside of Taylor, the Mets do not have a true center fielder, but could get creative with their positional alignment to get better offensive options into the lineup.

Can Jeff McNeil Hold is Own in Center Field?

Since McNeil’s debut in 2018, he has logged time at every spot on the diamond outside of first base, the mound and behind the plate.

While his primary position has always been second base, McNeil has always been very comfortable going out to the outfield, appearing in over 200 games in left field, and over 100 games in right across his MLB career. Where he hasn’t played much though, is center.

The last time McNeil got consistent exposure to playing out in center field was at Long Beach State, before he got drafted by the Mets in the 12th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

Across a professional baseball career that has spanned over a decade, McNeil had only appeared in six games in center field prior to this season, with three appearances in the minors and three in the majors. Yet when Siri went down, the Mets experimented with McNeil starting in center for a couple of games during his rehab stint from an oblique injury that cost him the first month of the season.

Since returning from the injured list on Friday, April 25, two of his three starts have come in center field, with one coming at second base. While center field will surely come with an adjustment period defensively, it is clear that Mets manager Carlos Mendoza wants McNeil’s bat in the lineup.

Throughout his eight MLB seasons, McNeil has been named to a pair of All-Star teams, won a batting title and owns a career .289 batting average. In his first series off the injured list in 2025, McNeil went 4-for-12 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs.

Starting McNeil in center field allows Mendoza a lot of flexibility throughout the game, because he always has the ability to move him into either corner outfield spot, or in to play second base depending on how he deploys his bench.

Even with McNeil starting two games in center so far, he has yet to finish one out there, and likely won’t as the Mets may always opt to close games with Taylor in center. Early in the games though, McNeil can take the first few at-bats to help lengthen the Mets lineup.

If at some point McNeil’s defense in center becomes a problem, New York can try Luisangel Acuña at the position, as he did play some center field in Triple-A last season.

In the minors, Acuña logged nearly 300 innings in 35 games in center. His sprint speed clocks in at 29.4 feet per second — a number that ranks in the 97th percentile — meaning that he is definitely fast enough to cover the ground necessary at the position.

What is interesting is that the Mets have opted to keep Acuña on the dirt, as they must feel he is more valuable playing up the middle with Francisco Lindor then he would be running down flyballs in center field. It is testament to Acuña’s prowess as an infielder that the Mets are putting their 33-year-old veteran into center field instead.

Acuña has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 starts, and is leading the team with seven stolen bases. The more he earns playing time at second base, the more McNeil will be flexed into a super utility role. But that really plays to McNeil’s strengths as a defender who is good, but not great at any one position.

Other Names to Watch

If all goes wrong with Taylor, McNeil and Acuña, the Mets have other names that they could trot out on a daily basis, albeit in a scenario that they would like to avoid.

First off, Brandon Nimmo could always slide back over from left field to center, a position that he called home for upwards of five years. Prior to the 2024 season, the Mets moved Nimmo over to a corner outfield spot to accommodate the Bader/Taylor split and help keep him healthy. Still, Nimmo played 26 games in center in 2024 so it would be foolish to completely rule out that scenario.

At the plate, he offers the most of any of the players mentioned above, the Wyoming-native owns a career 125 OPS+ and has slugged over 20 home runs in each of the past two seasons. On Monday, Nimmo went 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs and a franchise single-game record nine RBIs in a 19-5 win over the Nationals.

With all of that said, Nimmo has been dealing with plantar fasciitis since last season, and got off to a slow start in spring training due to a knee injury. Considering how important he is to the Mets lineup, it is unlikely that Nimmo will get anything more then the occasional start in center field.

Aside from Nimmo, the Mets have had Jose Azocar with the big league club since Siri’s injury. Despite going 5-for-13 so far in limited at-bats, the Mets likely view Azocar as nothing more than a defensive replacement or pinch-running option.

Finally, Drew Gilbert is nearing MLB-ready status and is more than capable of holding down center field defensively. After a lost season in the minors in 2024 due to injury, Gilbert has gotten off to a hot start in 2025, hitting .314 with a .920 OPS between two levels of minor league play.

Prior to the season, Just Baseball placed Gilbert as the Mets’ No. 9 prospect.

Until Siri returns, the Mets seem more than comfortable running with in-house options. Taylor’s defense should warrant him the day-to-day playing time, but if McNeil adjusts well, his bat could put the former on the bench. If neither option works to Mendoza’s liking, a combination of Nimmo, Acuña or maybe even Gilbert could be patrolling center field at Citi Field in the near future.