The Mets’ weekend sweep of the Nationals came with a little roster intrigue attached.
After New York finished off Washington 4-3 on Sunday to complete its second sweep of August, the club moved to 56-69 and made a move that could give Christopher Morel another crack at sticking in the majors. Per Mike Mayer of Metsmerized, the Mets are calling up the former Chicago Cubs slugger and utility defender from Triple-A Syracuse.
Morel arrives in New York after a brief and rough stop with the Miami Marlins earlier this season. He began the year on the injured list with an oblique strain, came back on April 28, and then struggled badly in 22 games while handling only first base.
His line with Miami sat at .162/.219/.206, good for a .433 OPS, with no home runs and just one RBI. That lone RBI came on a go-ahead single on May 10.
Miami designated Morel for assignment on June 21, and he chose free agency before signing a minor league deal with the Mets. Since then, he’s done plenty to force the issue in Syracuse.
Over 31 games at Triple-A, he hit .321/.382/.716 with a 1.098 OPS, hammering 12 home runs and driving in 29 runs. With that kind of production, and New York still sorting out its situation at third base, the promotion makes sense.
Morel’s big-league track record has always come with power attached. He debuted with the Cubs at 23 in 2022, when he was Chicago’s No. 8 prospect, and saw time all over the field, including center field, second base, third base and shortstop. That first season produced a .741 OPS, and he took a real step forward in 2023, when he played 107 games and posted a .247/.313/.508 line with 26 home runs and 70 RBIs.
The next chapter got bumpier. Morel was traded during a down 2024 season to the Tampa Bay Rays, then spent 2025 with them and produced mediocre offensive results. If he gets into a game for the Mets, it will be his fourth MLB team in the last three seasons.
He’s sitting at 499 career games right now, so the next one will be a milestone. The Mets are banking on the power showing up in Citi Field, and hoping his career 30.7% strikeout rate comes down at least a bit.
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