CLEVELAND — New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty’s body language — a quick shake of his head, a turn toward home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez — suggested he didn’t approve of the calls. But even on an inconsistent night from Gonzalez, the pitches appeared to be strikes. In the fifth inning, Baty failed to swing and struck out on three pitches.
Advertisement
With two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Baty saw three more pitches and again struck out. He stared at a fastball, missed a low splitter and then swung through another high fastball. After that, the Mets never recorded a hit over the final three innings Monday night and lost to the Cleveland Guardians 3-1.
The Mets’ concerns have piled up. Injured top starter Kodai Senga (shoulder) experienced a setback because of tricep tightness so he couldn’t throw a bullpen though the Mets are hopeful he does so Tuesday. Edwin Díaz’s meltdowns have sounded alarms, not trumpets. Francisco Lindor went 0-for-4 in his return to Cleveland, dropping his OPS to .616. The list tends to make paragraphs too long to read. One of the club’s most interesting issues — for 2024 and beyond — includes Baty and third base.
Baty, who opened the season as the Mets’ starting third baseman, has already seen his playing time cut because of a timeshare with Mark Vientos.
It’s unclear how long the Mets (21-26) plan to run a platoon at third base featuring two 24-year-olds — the left-handed hitting Baty and right-handed batting Vientos — but it’s not a roster construction designed for the long haul. After all, shortstop Lindor and second baseman Jeff McNeil are being asked to play every inning of every game.
Before Monday’s game, Mets officials may have felt fine about the setup — for now. They don’t yet have a glaring need for a backup middle infielder (which they sacrificed to recall Vientos), and the decision to carry both third basemen seemed like a worthwhile endeavor to jump-start their offense. But at some point — probably sooner rather than later — they will need to make a decision.
Baty said the platoon situation “has been great” and mentioned how Vientos is one of his best friends. While Mets officials may not see the issue as a major one in the short term, it’s not ideal for the development of either player to sit against same-handed pitchers.
Ideally for the Mets, someone would maximize their opportunity, and run with the job.
Advertisement
In four games since rejoining the Mets, Vientos is 4-for-14 with two doubles. In that same span, Baty is 2-for-10 with one double. These are extremely small samples; Baty’s struggles go beyond that. Over the last month — since April 20 — Baty is 13-for-77 (.169 batting average) with a 30.2 percent strikeout rate.
On Monday, Baty started against right-hander Ben Lively, and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Baty has supplied the Mets with strong defense, but the Mets need more at the plate from a position that is traditionally known for being a source of offense. For the past couple of weeks, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has pointed out that Baty has taken pitches he could do damage on and then chased out of the strike zone.
“He’s just gotta continue to work, continue to have that conviction in his approach,” Mendoza said. “Gotta get ready to hit on time, and whenever he’s getting his pitches, just put a good swing on it.”
Mets officials still believe both Baty and Vientos will become good major-league players. They can point to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm as a great example of a one-time top prospect at third base who struggled through his age-24 season in the majors yet developed into a quality player. Such can be life in 2024 for the Mets, who want to live in two worlds: competing and developing. It’s hard to keep both residences, especially when the team is scuffling.
Baty said he didn’t have a great plan at the plate against Lively. His strikeout in the sixth inning occurred against sidearm reliever Nick Sandlin. The Mets collected two hits and a walk to load the bases. He said he wanted to be “on the heater,” but he failed to come through.
“Today, I just didn’t have a really good approach, didn’t have a really good plan at the plate,” Baty said. “Just gotta have better at-bats.”
Advertisement
When he was asked how tough it was to not let things spiral after such a performance, Baty referred to Sunday when he went 1-for-3 and said Monday was just one game.
“I got on base three times yesterday, hit some balls pretty hard, just barely missed a homer yesterday — it’s just one game; I just gotta have better at-bats for the team,” Baty said. “That’s the biggest thing. Bases loaded there, you just gotta have a better at-bat because we need those runs.”
(Photo of Brett Baty swinging on Sunday: Rich Storry / Getty Images)
