NEW YORK -- Wavering on how best to deploy Luis Guillorme, the Mets on Monday optioned the 23-year-old infielder to Triple-A Las Vegas, and called up utilityman Jack Reinheimer. The team also swapped a fresh reliever into its bullpen, recalling right-hander Tim Peterson and optioning Jacob Rhame.
Guillorme had amassed just 10 plate appearances in the Mets' last 13 games. Batting .444 in those contests, Guillorme extended his Major League-best streak of plate appearances without a strikeout to 52, but he could not work his way into the Mets' regular infield rotation.
"I think that at this point Guillorme has not played as much as we'd like him to play to continue to develop, so that was the main factor," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "We want to get him down there and get him playing every day, and continuing to improve his development."
Last week, Callaway said the Mets were not starting Guillorme regularly because they wanted to prepare him for a future career as a bench player. On Monday, Callaway clarified that young second baseman Jeff McNeil's emergence, along with Todd Frazier's return from the disabled list, left too few opportunities for Guillorme to play.
The Mets also recently began cutting back on the reps of Jose Reyes, who has started only one of the team's last six games.
"It just became pretty clear that it was going to be hard to get [Guillorme] the playing time that we would like to see him get at this point," Callaway said. "So we felt like just sending him down to Triple-A was the best option."
The team is less concerned with the at-bats of Reinheimer, 26, whom they claimed off waivers from the D-backs last month. Capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, Reinheimer hit .231 with one home run and a .756 OPS in nine games at Triple-A Las Vegas.
"Jack it seems from all of the reports that he has some versatility to him," Callaway said. "We'll pinch-run him, play him in multiple positions. He puts together good at bats so we're interested to see what he can do at the Major League level, as well."