Costly error should be enough for NY Mets to rethink how they use Brett Baty

Following Wednesday's New York Mets loss, one thing remains clear, the Brett Baty experiment is at its wits' end.

Brett was handed yet another opportunity to get consistent playing time to start 2025, and throughout Baty's stellar Spring Training there was genuine hope and plenty of excitement, that this could finally be his breakout year. Just two weeks later, we are starting to accept it may never happen

In the 5th inning of a great start by Tylor Megill, Baty botched a routine 4-6-3 double play after sailing his throw wide of Francisco Lindor covering second. The error led to two runs being scored that ultimately resulted in a 5-0 loss.

Mind you, Baty is just a week removed from almost costing the Mets a game in Miami due to a poor throw. If he's not only struggling at the plate but also costing the Mets defensively, what is the upside to keeping him in the lineup?

Carlos Mendoza needs to make a change

Mendoza has shown the same impatience as Met fans already. Much like Baty, Mark Vientos has struggled out of the gate this season. Vientos was hitting cleanup in the first three games, but Mendoza quickly made the call to move him down in the order.

It is only a matter of time before Carlos Mendoza has seen enough to play Acuna until McNeil gets healthy. While Luisangel Acuna has not been much better, he has proven to at least be able to work a productive at-bat. Not only that, but he is a real threat as a base runner and a solid defender.

In Baty's first 27 at-bats he has struck out 11 times, while that stat is bad enough it is ironically the same amount of times Baty has been ahead in the count, just 11 times. Even more frustrating is that four of those strikeouts came with runners in scoring position, adding to the Mets' woes with RISP to start the season.

This may be the final opportunity for Brett Baty to get consistent at-bats in the major leagues, and if he continues down this path he will be back in Triple-A where the path to return to the big leagues will only get harder as Ronny Mauricio recovers to compete with him for the final roster spot.

If Baty is not only costing the team offensively, but defensively as well the Mets may have to stop the platoon of Baty and Acuna and start Acuna full-time, and if that happens it becomes very hard to see a future of this team that involves Brett Baty in any capacity.