2026 Non-Roster Invitee Preview: Jackson Cluff
The Mets either have a ton of shortstops on the roster or they have limited depth at the position. It completely depends on how the club sees the versatility of their roster.
When Francisco Lindor went down with a back injury late in 2024, Luisangel Acuña was there to fill the gap for the Mets. Acuña did great in that stint and was able to fill in when needed in 2025 (although that was only parts of seven games totaling 36 innings). With Acuña now gone, the Mets need other options at short. They have two players on the roster, Jorge Polanco and Bo Bichette, who have played shortstop in the past, but they are also learning new positions. It feels unlikely, even with Lindor recovering from hamate bone surgery right now, that the Mets will slide either of them over to short unless there is an unforeseen setback. The only other player on the roster who played innings at short in 2025 was Ronny Mauricio, who logged 22 innings over parts of five games there.
The Mets need a stop gap back up plan in case Lindor isn’t ready and Mauricio needs someone behind him. The short-term backup shortstop/utility player will be one of the more competitive battles this spring, and Jackson Cluff is one of several players batting for that spot.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Cluff was drafted in 2019 out of BYU by the Washington Nationals. Over 498 minor league games he has slashed .219/.324/.363. Cluff slashed .279/.395/.382 in his first season with BYU and then took two years off for a mission trip. He came back as a senior hitting .325/.458/.515.
His minor league career was interrupted early by a broken hamate bone (that sounds familiar!) and then by COVID last season. In 2025, he played in Triple-A Rochester and slashed .242/.349/.422 over 103 games while being an average of 1.7 years older than the competition. Surprisingly, Cluff has never been younger than the average player age at any level in the minors.
Cluff was last listed as a top 30 prospect in the Nationals’ system by MLB Pipeline back in 2022. He was ranked as their No. 22 farmhand then with an estimated major league debut of 2022, which is something that still hasn’t happened yet for Cluff. After hitting only .214/.306/.289 across three levels in 2021, Cluff had a strong Arizona Fall League season, slashing .342/.432/.456, which played a role in him landing on Pipeline’s list. Even back then he was noted for his stellar defense, which is what the Mets signed him for. He’s not going to hit the cover off the ball, but a great glove and some decent hitting could land him a spot on the roster.
We’ll be watching this spring to see how long he stays in camp, and how his playing time compares to other players who are trying to earn that backup shortstop position. Let’s make a big assumption that Mauricio is the guy if the Mets need a shortstop for a week. The first player up on the 40-man is Vidal Bruján. Non-roster invitees fighting for the spot includes veteran Christian Arroyo, Grae Kessinger and Cluff. There’s a lot of competition!
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