Joey

Wendle

Wendle was waived by the Braves on Monday to make room for Sean Murphy on the active roster, but he has no intention of playing in the minor leagues. The veteran, who is hitting .222 with zero home runs in 36 at-bats this season, will hope to latch on with another team.

Wendle was just signed on Friday, but the Braves needed to make room on the active roster with Sean Murphy coming off the IL. The 34-year-old Wendle has struggled for two years now but can play multiple positions on the infield and could get a shot with another team soon.

Wendle was released by the Mets earlier this week after hitting .222 with zero home runs in 36 at-bats. The 34-year-old wasn’t any better for the Marlins last year when he hit .212 with two home runs in 297 at-bats. He’ll serve as a backup infielder with Atlanta.

Wendle was designated for assignment last week after hitting .222/.243/.250 in 37 plate appearances for the Mets. He’ll probably resurface with another club this summer, though he might have to take a minor league deal initially.

It’s a little scary that the Mets have chosen to forgo carrying a legitimate backup middle infielder, but insurance there is all Wendle seemed to have to offer at this point. He was hitting .222/.243/.250 in 37 plate appearances for the Mets. Last year, he came in at .212/.248/.306 in 318 plate appearances for the Marlins.

Sherman adds that Yohan Ramirez will also be jettisoned from New York’s 40-man roster ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Phillies. Wendle signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Mets during the offseason and has contributed just a .522 OPS with zero homers and one steal in 17 contests. It’ll be Mark Vientos coming up to take his spot on the active roster and split time with Brett Baty at third base moving forward.

McNeil grabs a seat on the bench against Aaron Nola. The 32-year-old will sit with Joey Wendle handling second base and hitting seventh in his absence.

Bader will get a day off against his former team. Jeff McNeil is in left field with Starling Marte in center, and Joey Wendle will start at second base while Bader rests.

It seems way off that Wendle has started three of the Mets’ last five games while Tyrone Taylor has been on the bench for all five. To be fair, Brett Baty was unavailable for two of those, making Wendle a reasonable option at third. However, the Mets put Wendle at second and Jeff McNeil in left field tonight, even though Taylor in left with McNeil at his usual position was almost surely the better option.

Baty remains out of New York’s lineup for the third straight contest due to an ongoing left hamstring issue. It doesn’t sound like a major concern, but the Mets obviously don’t want to take any chances of it developing into a more serious situation. It’ll be veteran Joey Wendle handling the cold corner once again on Saturday afternoon out in Los Angeles.