Ongoing Brett Baty power surge gives the NY Mets a lot to think about with the lineup

Brett Baty hasn’t locked himself into a permanent role with the New York Mets just yet. We should know better than to award anyone with a starting job after one hot week which, amazingly, is all he has been given so far since being recalled.

Hitless in his first game on May 7, Baty returned to the field on May 9 with a home run. Two more on Saturday with all 5 runs batted in for the Mets had us feeling really good about where things were headed. Then came what would turn into the game-winner on Tuesday in what was his third two-hit game since coming back from Syracuse.

Baty has been hot, Mark Vientos has been disappointing. With balls squirting literally through his glove and now getting outmatched at the plate by Baty, the Mets have something to think about with their third base situation.

What’s the best lineup situation for the Mets right now with Brett Baty steaming hot?

There are two roads a team can take when it comes to putting the lineup together. Sometimes they favor the higher paid players and veterans. Other instances will refer to the hottest player on the team. The latter is the preferred choice of fans who just want wins. Fortunately, it’s precisely how the Mets are handling things.

Baty got the start at second base on Tuesday in place of a cooled off Luisangel Acuna. He had played nothing but third base since his promotion, leaving Vientos on the bench or in the DH spot a couple of times. It’s at the DH spot where Vientos is feeling more and more like he belongs. This leaves Starling Marte without much of a role whatsoever with the exception of playing against lefties with Baty on the bench to start the game.

There’s no contest defensively about who should be the third baseman on the Mets right now. Vientos has not been good. The lack of power at the plate is harder to explain. He was too consistently good through all of last year for us to have expected Baty to already catch up to him in home runs despite significantly less playing time.

The Mets have enough versatility on defense to give anyone who wants to play a shot—the want coming from the numbers they’re putting up. They haven’t been shy about sitting the questionable ones, Jeff McNeil included.

An ongoing tug-of-war is going to take place at multiple positions throughout this season. Baty, at least against right-handed pitchers, is holding strong. Frequent home runs are something we’ve never seen out of him. It’ll be hard to keep him off the field and even away from third base if these trends continue.