Latest NY Mets injury concern may allow roster battle to extend into the regular season

Here we go again. With the newest report that Jeff McNeil has suffered a right oblique strain, taking him out of consideration for Opening Day, the New York Mets have yet another hole to fill as they are left without a starting second baseman to begin the 2025 campaign.

Enter Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña, who now have the opportunity to fight for the Mets' second base job to start the season.

Baty, 25, is a former top 100 prospect who was at one point ranked as high as #21 for MLB.com. In 94 Triple-A games, he's slashed an impressive .273/.368/.581 in 416 plate appearances, including 26 home runs and 77 RBI. Baty can rake in the minors, but he has found trouble converting his minor league success at the plate to the majors. In 598 plate appearances across the past three MLB seasons, Baty has slashed just .215/.282/.325.

Originally in contention for the third base spot, Baty lost that race to Mark Vientos, whose age-24 breakout season last year turned heads across the league. In 111 regular season games, Vientos slashed .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs and 71 RBI as one of the best offensive players for the Mets last year. Vientos just like Baty struggled against big-league pitching his first two years, so it's always possible that an offensive breakout for Baty is imminent.

A positive sign for Baty is his impressive performance in spring training thus far, slashing .370/.433/.667 in 30 plate appearances, including two home runs. If he can continue his success in the Grapefruit League, he can be well on his way to a spot at second base, where he can have another opportunity to prove himself against major league pitchers. However, he's not the only one in contention for the role.

Luisangel Acuña, acquired by the Mets at the 2023 trade deadline from the Texas Rangers in the swap that sent Max Scherzer to Texas, was ranked the #66 prospect by MLB.com before the 2024 season. The 23-year-old got his chance in the majors last September when he was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to fill in for Francisco Lindor who was suffering back tightness, and he certainly savored the opportunity. In his 40 plate appearances in 2024, Acuña slashed .308/.325/.641, coming up with some important hits as the Mets made their late-season postseason push.

However, the issue with Acuña is his struggles at the plate overall. Sure, he had his moment last year and performed well, but he came up from a Triple-A season in which he was having a hard time at the plate. A .258/.299/.355 slashline in the minors isn't something to overlook, even given the success in his limited MLB opportunity. He hasn't been performing in spring training this year, either. Slashing just .231/.259/.269 in his 27 plate appearances, he has had a hard time at the plate this spring.

Given Baty's consistent minor league and spring training success paired with providing lefty offense to replace McNeil, I would give him the early edge to earn the second base spot heading into the season. It's also possible the Mets would want someone with more proven major league success and if that's what they're going for, Acuña would be their guy. There's nothing to do but wait and see how these guys continue to perform this spring to know who will earn the position.