Juan Uribe comes through for the Mets in his first at-bat in a month

Unless you’re a fan of the New York Mets, you may not have realized Juan Uribe made the club’s World Series roster. We won’t hold that against you, though. Uribe hasn’t played at all for New York during the postseason as he’s been sidelined since September 25 with a chest injury.

Uribe was able to recover in time for the World Series, however, and was somewhat of a surprise addition to the team’s 25-man roster. When Uribe was activated, manager Terry Collins said he envisioned the 36-year-old veteran as a major threat off the bench for the Mets.

[Related: Mets, Royals remember the last time their teams won the World Series]

On Friday, Uribe got his first opportunity to justify that role. After a Travis d’Arnaud groundout to start off the sixth inning, both Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores reached base against Franklin Morales. The Mets already led the the contest 5-3 at that point, but this was a major opportunity for the club to break things open.

Enter Uribe. Manager Terry Collins called on the right-hander despite the fact that Uribe had not received an at-bat during a game in over a month. If he was at all rusty, that didn’t show. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Uribe lined a run-scoring single into right field. The hit would extend the Mets lead to 6-3. Uribe would later score on David Wright’s two-run single, which officially put the game out of reach for the Kansas City Royals. 

While Wright’s hit and overall performance was probably the story of the night, Uribe’s success was more surprising. Uribe was considered a key acquisition by the team around the trade deadline, but has become somewhat of the club’s forgotten man during the playoff push. On top of that, no one really expected much out of him considering the long layoff. 

In the end, the decision to depend on the veteran paid off for Collins. Following the game, Collins explained why he turned to Uribe in such a crucial spot.

Big league players are pretty talented guys. They do amazing things. And when you’ve had the career like Juan has had, he’s done amazing things.

So he told me the other day he was ready. We were looking for the situation to get him in. And we thought tonight was the example. When [Franklin] Morales came in the game, we needed somebody to hit fourth, which meant somebody was going to be on base when he got up, and fortunately we had two guys on.

Big contribution from him. He’s such a good guy to have on your club and be in the clubhouse, it’s nice that he had a chance to contribute.

David Wright said he was fairly confident in Uribe’s ability, even though he hadn’t hit in a live game for weeks. 

He’s taken live BP off of [Noah] Syndergaard and [Steven] Matz, and all those other guys, so I think that will get you ready. I think having a guy like that on most teams, playing every day to have him as a weapon coming off our bench, it’s incredible. He goes up there, he puts together a tremendous at-bat. Just seems like he has the ability to think along with the pitcher. He might not get hits all the time, but you know you’re going to get a quality at-bat when he gets up there.

Outfielder Curtis Granderson agreed with that assessment. 

And there’s a certain type of guy that’s able to go up there and do the things that he can do. That’s the Juan Uribe type that when he steps on the field for batting practice, no matter how long the layoff has been, it’s very impressive. When he steps on the field, whether it be for defense or offense, you know that this guy has had so many at-bats and so many innings under he is belt, that the chances of him succeeding are a lot higher for anyone else coming into that situation.

He’s that type of guy, and it’s great that we get a chance to have him with us. He’s done some amazing things for the teams he’s played for in the past, and now he’s doing it with us.

Throughout his career, Uribe has developed a reputation as being an excellent clubhouse presence. That’s quite possibly the reason Uribe was able to stick in the majors despite hitting just .226/.288/.371 from 2010 to 2012. Uribe experienced a bit of a resurgence in 2013, and has been a useful bench infielder/occasional starter since then. 

It’s also important to note that Uribe is one of the few players on the Mets who has a World Series ring. He has two, actually. Uribe won his first with the 2005 Chicago White Sox, and picked up his second ring as a member of the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

He’s shown the ability to succeed in big moments in the past, and that definitely earns him some respect from those around the game. It’s easy to see why both Granderson and Collins would not only praise his ability, but also his positive qualities in the clubhouse. 

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Had Uribe been available to play in the NLDS and NLCS, his previous postseason experience may have been a nice story line heading into the World Series. Instead, it’s been difficult to remember he’s even on the club.

That’s no longer the case. Uribe announced his presence in a big way during Game 3. While it’s unlikely he’ll start any games, he’s going to be a weapon off the bench. Considering the success he’s had in the past, Uribe is probably going to be a bigger addition than anyone anticipated for New York. 

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik