Luis Guillorme: Mets Slick Fielding Infielder (2018 - 2023)

Luis Miguel Guillorme Gonzales was born September 27th, 1994, in Caracas, Venezuela. The five foot, ten, infielder is nicknamed Luismi. As a youngster he held dual citizenships in Venezuela & Spain.

Drama: When Luis was a child he went with his cousin for a drive with & his toddler brother along for the ride as well. They were carjacked at gunpoint.

Quotes- Guillorme: "I had no business being outside, you can be outside & somebody can rob you for a pair of shoes. If you have something nice over there, you can get in trouble for that. So you'd rather stay inside."

His father made a playing area for him to practice baseball by knocking down a wall making two rooms, one large area. 

It was there he spent his days, practicing & getting good with his hands to become the fine defensive infielder he is. His childhood baseball hero was Omar Vizuel.

Move to Florida: Eventually his family moved to Davie, Florida. He no longer had the room to throw the ball off the wall, but his parents bought him a batting cage for the back yard. There he attended Coral Springs charter school & was a standout baseball player.

He was drafted by the New York Mets, in the tenth round of the 2013 draft, mainly for his outstanding defensive skills.

 The infielder was never power hitter, hitting just five career minor league homers in 2021 at bats. In 2015 he did hit .318 at A ball Savannah & .283 at AA Binghamton in 2017.

In 2018 the Mets gave him a chance, as he was brought up when Tomas Nido was optioned to Las Vegas. 

Mets Career: He made his debut on May 11th, 2018, as a 9th inning pinch runner. He scored the game's tying run as Devin Morasco hit a two-run game winning HR. 

Two days later, Guillorme collected a hit as a pinch hitter, in his first official at bat. Both games were at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. 

On May 15th he drove in his first run, in a 12-2 Mets win at Citi Field over the Toronto Blue Jays. 

He saw steady action throughout May, highlighted by collecting four hits & three RBIs in a day / night doubleheader split in Atlanta. He then struggled in June & was sent down after batting just .172 up to that point. He returned briefly in late July, early August. 

In 35 games he saw action at third (14 games) & second base (8 games) making just one error in 30 chances. He batted .209 with 5 RBIs & two triples. At AAA Las Vegas he batted .304 in 69 games.

2019: Guillorme was invited to Spring Training 2019 where he was 4-8 with a walk in his first five games. He also sported one of the best beards in Florida Spring Training 2019.

He was with the club in April seeing limited action for his fine defense. He then spent two months at AAA Syracuse, playing 69 games batting an impressive .307 with 7 HRs & 32 RBIs.

He saw action in five games with the Mets in July & then got called back up when Robinson Cano went down with a pulled hamstring. 

He enjoyed playing in the midst of the Mets 15 of 16 game win streak, contributing to a personal career moment on Saturday August 10th.

With the Mets down 3-2 to the Nationals in the 8th inning, Luis pinch hit for Juan Lagares facing veteran 42-year-old pitcher, Fernando Rodney.

Guillorme shocked everyone, blasting a HR to right field, tying the game which the Mets went on to win, continuing their eight-game win streak. It was his first career HR in 100 at bats.

Keeping a modest straight face as he rounded the bases, he electrified the crowd & his teammates as they greeted him in the dugout.

Quotes- Luis Guillorme: "That was great for me, and it helped the team, too. If we're down one or five, we just know somebody is going to pick it up. Especially since the crowd, it helps out a lot when you have that energy out there. It just makes it easier."

Three games later, he had another pinch-hit RBI but, in a Mets, losing cause. On August 21st, he came to bat as a pinch hitter with the Mets down 2-1 to the Cleveland Indians. 

Guillorme was successful once again, hitting a double to center field off pitcher, Adam Plutko, giving the Mets the lead. The Mets won the game & swept the Indians, chasing the wild card spot.

It was his last RBI of the year; he would have five more hits in 15 at bats. He played at second, third & short for the Mets, making just one error in 48 chances, turning 12 double plays.

2020: In the Covid-19 shortened season, he played in 29 games batting .333. On August 10th, he made his pitching debut, throwing a scoreless inning in a 16-4 loss to the Nationals at Citi Field.

2021: During a Spring Training game against the St. Louis Cardinals', Guillorme had a 22 pitch at bat against pitcher Jordan Hicks. It was the longest at bat in MLB history.

On April 21st he pitched his second career game, allowing two runs on three hits in a 16-4 Mets walloping from the White Sox in Chicago.

After batting .333 in April, he suffered an oblique strain which caused him to miss six weeks of action, returning to action June 11th.

On June 26th, he came to bat against Hector Neris with the bases loaded, no one out & the Mets down 3-2 to the Phillies. He drew a walk to tie the game & two batters later Michael Conforto line out to center with a sac fly scoring Billy McKinney with the game winning run.

On July 21st he hit his only HR of the year, it came off Tony Santillan in a 7-0 win over the Reds. In August he suffered a hamstring injury, missing another month of action. 

When he went down the Mets had a five-game lead in first place over the Braves, when he returned the Mets were 3.5 games back in third place.

Overall, in 2021 Guillorme batted .265 with a HR three doubles & five RBIs. He played in 69 games, 27 at third base, 18 at second & 11 at short stop.  

2022: As the season began, the Mets made off season moves that put them as favorites in the NL for the post season. With the addition of Eduardo Escobar at third base & Robinson Cano coming off suspension for second base, it looked as though Guillorme would not see much action. 

But Robinson Cano didn't last long & was released. The ever-versatile Guillorme would see action in 67 games at second base, splitting time mostly with Jeff McNeil. He also saw action at third in 22 games, filling in or platooning with Escobar. He also played 15 games at short & three at DH. He made just one error at each of his positions in 316 chances.

Shaving the Famous Beard: Nobody recognized him when he shaved off his famous beard in April. He started growing it back & the hits came more often as he began to look like the bearded Luis, we all know & love.

Guillorme started out the season slow, but in May he collected 19 hits in a 13-game span with seven straight multi-hit games. Overall Guillorme batted .414 that month, posting a .477 on base% scoring 12 runs. He was also valuable playing a fine defense on the field.

On May 30th, he collected a pair of hits with a walk, an RBI & three runs scored in a 13-5 win over the Nationals. 

On June 1st, he drew three walks & scored two more runs in a 5-0 Mets win over the Nats behind Carlos Carrasco. In mid-June he hit safely in nine of ten games raising his average to .333.

On June 11th, Guillorme hit a HR off veteran Darren O'Day in a 4-1 Mets win over the Braves in
Atlanta. As the Mets took two of three from the Braves, Luis drove in another run in the series finale' 7-3 Mets win.

At the All-Star break, he was batting .293 & he had impressed his manager Buck Showalter so much, that Buck was saying there should be a spot on the All-Star team for an All-Star utility player like Guillorme.

On August 15th, while on a five-game hit streak, he was placed on the IL with a left groin strain. He missed a month of action returning on September 13th, where by now the Mets had just a half game lead over the Braves in the NL East. 

Luis would hit safely in his first four games back but hit just .205 the rest of the way. In his final seven games of the regular season, he drove in three of his 17 RBIs.

On the season he played in 102 games, batting .273 with two HRs 12 doubles 1 triple 33 runs scored & 17 RBIs. He drew 34 walks & posted a .351 on base %.

2022 Post Season: In the Wild Card game series, he appeared in one game going 0-1 in the loss to San Diego.

Luis with his father & brother

2023: As the season began, he found himself back as an all-around Mets infielder, he would play at second base (29 games) third base (14 games) & short (9 games). He struggled at the plate & was batting just .233 in mid-May & was sent down to AAA Syracuse. 

It was his first time back in the minors since 2019. The Mets called up Mark Vientos who also struggled & would go back down later in the season.

Luis was called back up in June &drove in a run in his first game back. On June 17th he hit his only HR of the season, a two-run shot off the Cards Adam Wainwright in a 5-3 loss. 

Luiis was batting .238 in mid-July when he strained his calf & was placed on the IL, out for two months. He returned in September to play in just four games. The Mets had a disappointing season as well, finishing 75-87 in fourth place. In 54 games Luis batted just .224 with six doubles a triple, a HR nine RBIs & 12 runs scored. 

In November he was go to free agency.

Career Stats: In his six-year career, Guillorme is batting .261 with 188 hits 33 doubles two triples' 5 HRs 48 RBIs & 76 runs scored. He struck out 131 times with 81 walks a .344 on base % & .677 OPS.

On the field he posted a .995 fielding %, making just 11 errors in 592 chances. 

He has played 147 games at second with a .996 fielding %, turning 86 double plays making just two errors. He also played 86 games at third with a .954 fielding % & 46 games at short with a .933 fielding %.

Hobbies: Luis plays video games, enjoys fishing & is a shoe collector.

Family: He has been dating Marissa Becker who is a registered nurse.

Music- Trivia: Luis' walk-up music is the classic "Brother Louie" by the Stories from 1973.