Brett Baty is showing the NY Mets he should hang around when Jeff McNeil returns

Don’t look now but Brett Baty has a hit in 5 consecutive games. A pair in the finale versus the Minnesota Twins and two more in the opener versus the St. Louis Cardinals plus doubles in back-to-back games suggest that maybe the 26th man on the New York Mets roster might not be Syracuse bound after all. Despite a strong effort from Luisangel Acuna as the other half of the second base duo, the team continues to play Baty and finally he’s giving them justification to do so.

Baty has yet to fully take off and a daily strikeout has been pretty much a guarantee. He’s waiting for his first home run which, while significant, isn’t a lonely island he sits on. Jesse Winker has yet to go yard either.

Previously, the thought was the Mets would be sending Baty down to the minors upon the return of Jeff McNeil. However, all signs point toward a different outcome. The Jose Siri injury is why.

Sorry Jose Azocar, the Mets are probably going to delete you

Jose Azocar has yet to appear in a game for the Mets. This could change, but it doesn’t seem like the club is too keen on throwing him to the wolves.

McNeil playing center field during his rehab plus admittance of deploying Acuna in center field now gives the Mets two alternatives to Tyrone Taylor out in center field. Taylor should be the everyday candidate for the position. Barring some strange outcome where Azocar gets a start and goes 4 for 4, he seems like the odd man out.

The Opening Day roster lacked balance in more ways than one. Six outfielders with two of them essentially being DHs was unsustainable. This gave the Mets only one backup infielder on a daily basis and that’s if Mark Vientos wasn’t the DH already.

There are other factors at play which could keep the Mets on the familiar path, though. McNeil’s return means a more balanced roster but also fewer chances for Acuna or Baty. McNeil isn’t going to just sit and do nothing. He’s going to play some second base as well as center field. Do the Mets feel the need to have Acuna play regularly as they’ve suggested he needs to? If so, sending him to the minor leagues is the only thing that works. He could always continue to share the workload with Baty at second base and work his way into doing the same with McNeil. The team seems to trust McNeil enough as a center field candidate but the lack of immediate use of Acuna out there says the complete opposite about him.

The Mets are a better team with Acuna and now maybe even Baty hanging around. But are Acuna and Baty better off in a more limited capacity? There are a lot of directions the Mets could go and rationalizations they can throw at us. Baty’s sudden ability to hit again only makes things more complicated. And we have to love it.