Mets have a plethora of intriguing lineup alignment options with Jesse Winker out

The news the Mets got about Jesse Winker on Monday was unfortunate.

New York's primary designated hitter, who also brings a ton of energy and whose vibes are off the charts, is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks after suffering an oblique injury.

There's no getting around that the Mets being without Winker until some point near the end of June or a bit later is not ideal.

Winker, who has a 111 OPS and was the Mets' regular DH against right-handers, had been heating up after a slow start.

In 31 plate appearances from April 21 until he got injured on May 4, Winker reached base 14 times.

So the timing is not great.

But the Mets should have the ability to persevere through Winker's absence.

New York, with a handful of players who offer serious positional versatility and others who can slide in and out of the DH spot, is set up well to deal with this.

The Mets have a plethora of intriguing lineup alignments they can roll out while Winker works his way back...

The Starling Marte option

The cleanest approach would be to just make Marte the regular DH.

But there are two reasons why that might not be likely -- or wise.

The first is that Marte hasn't hit much this season, slashing just .183/.296/.317 (77 OPS+) with two homers and two doubles in 71 plate appearances over 24 games.

Perhaps part of his struggles are due to rust from relatively irregular playing time, but it's fair to wonder if Marte can handle a regular workload.

He was given his first start in the outfield a few days ago, but was pulled after just 4.0 innings in a pre-planned move to get him off his feet.

Serving as the DH is obviously less strenuous than playing the field, but it's fair to wonder just how much burn the Mets will give Marte in Winker's absence.

The Brandon Nimmo/Jeff McNeil DH option

Using Nimmo as the DH at times would give his legs a needed rest, and would allow the Mets to deploy some ideal alignments elsewhere.

For one, it would let them have both McNeil (in a corner outfield spot) and Luisangel Acuña (at second base) in the lineup.

If the Mets turn to McNeil at DH sometimes (with Nimmo in left field), that would be another way to keep second base open for Acuña.

The Luisangel Acuña/McNeil center field option

The Mets used McNeil in center field a handful of times before Winker got hurt, but haven't yet tried Acuña there.

Putting Acuña in center would mean having either Nimmo or McNeil in left, and leave the DH spot open for whoever doesn't start in the outfield.

Putting McNeil in center would allow Acuña to play second base, Nimmo to play left, and someone else (Marte, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos) to DH.

Of course, the Mets' best outfield alignment is one that has Tyrone Taylor in center. And he's been hitting better lately. But they might go for more offensive punch at times while Winker is out, and turn to Taylor later in the game for defense.

The Brett Baty option

With Baty back up, the Mets could theoretically slide him into the regular DH spot that was vacated by Winker.

In his final nine games in the bigs earlier this season before being sent to Triple-A Syracuse when McNeil was activated from the IL, Baty reached base 11 times in 31 plate appearances, which included smacking a pair of doubles, a triple, and a home run.

Another option could be to use Baty at third base since he's a better defender than Vientos, while using Vientos as the regular DH.

But it might be a bit unfair to Vientos to ask him to make that kind of in-season adjustment if the plan is to put him back at third base upon Winker's return.

The Drew Gilbert option

This one is for down the road a bit, but is starting to come in to focus.

Gilbert has played well in 14 games since rejoining Syracuse, with a .414 OBP and .823 OPS.

Once the Mets deem Gilbert ready, he'll be an intriguing center field option.