Pottsville native Travis Blankenhorn recently signed a 1-year contract with the New York Mets. The deal was announced by the team on March 23.
The pinch-hitting second baseman will be looking to crack a talented Mets lineup for the 2022 season that’s even loaded up with bench talent.
Blankenhorn’s seen limited action during the 2022 Spring Training season, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
Last season, when he finally got a chance to settle in with the Mets organization, he appeared in 23 games for the National League squad, tallying his first career home run against the Pirates in Pittsburgh and going 4-for-23 with a pair of doubles in addition to that home run and 3 runs scored.
Blankenhorn appeared in a single big league game with the Minnesota Twins last season, scoring a run. He started the season with Minnesota but was placed on waivers in May.
He was then selected off waivers by the LA Dodgers on May 14. And then the Seattle Mariners claimed him off waivers on May 24. On June 1, the Mets claimed the Pottsville Area High School grad.
Blankenhorn appeared in games for 4 different Triple-A teams in 2021: St. Paul Saints (Twins), Oklahoma City Dodgers (Dodgers), Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), Syracuse Chiefs (Mets).
With the Chiefs, Blankenhorn appeared in 48 games, going 41-for-161 at the plate with 9 homers and 30 RBI.
It’s unclear where Blankenhorn will spend his 2022 season in the Mets organization. Right now, he’s competing with a starting infield of Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Eduardo Escobar, and Francisco Lindor. On the bench for infield spots, the Mets also have Luis Guillorme, JD Davis, Dom Smith, and Robinson Cano.
