Mets shuffle roster, option Morabito and Pintaro to Syracuse

A.J. Minter and Jared Young were back in Queens, Tyrone Taylor was headed to the injured list, and the Mets sent Nick Morabito and Jonathan Pintaro back to Triple-A Syracuse in a move that kept the club’s May roster churn rolling from one day to the next.

Taylor’s right hip flexor strain, suffered in Monday’s 7-2 loss to the Reds, created the opening. The Mets said the center fielder was expected to miss 2 to 3 weeks, and Carlos Mendoza said he initially feared the injury could have been worse. To fill the spot, the club selected Eric Wagaman from Syracuse, giving the major league bench another right-handed bat after a stretch of constant movement between New York and central New York.

Wagaman’s path back up has already become part of the Mets’ recent depth story. Claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins on April 28 and later outrighted to Syracuse on May 11, he came up hitting .245 with 3 home runs, 18 RBI and a .744 OPS in 106 minor league at-bats this season. For a team trying to keep the bottom of the roster steady, that production made him the immediate call when Taylor went down.

Minter’s return may matter even more to the late innings. The left-hander was activated from the 60-day injured list after recovering from a left lat injury that had sidelined him since April 2025, and Mendoza said he would be comfortable using him in high-leverage spots, including the eighth inning or for the final three outs. That gives the Mets a more defined bridge to the ninth, a needed upgrade for a club that has been patching together its bullpen plan around injuries for most of May.

Young also rejoined the mix, and the details of his usage were clear right away. The 30-year-old returned from the 10-day injured list after tearing the meniscus in his left knee in early April, then went back into the lineup at first base and hit fifth. That kind of placement signals more than a warm body on the roster. It suggests the Mets still see him as part of the short-term lineup spine while they wait for healthier days.

The Syracuse impact was just as real. Morabito, the Mets’ No. 11 prospect, had been added to the 40-man roster on Nov. 18, 2025 to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, so the option back to Triple-A pushed him out of the active-picture for now. Pintaro, who made his MLB debut on June 25, 2025, returned to Syracuse after posting a 2.81 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 25.2 innings there this season. For Syracuse, that means more playing time and more pressure on the next wave. For the Mets, it means the shuttle stays open, and the next call-up could come quickly if the injuries keep stacking up.