Brett Baty has shown he belongs on the NY Mets roster but one question lingers

If spring training statistics were remembered, Brett Baty would have declined receiving a car from Juan Soto and instead asked for him to pay for the best Hall of Fame speech writer he could get. He has been a mainstay in New York Mets camp since 2023. He hit .325/.460/.425 that year. He followed it up by hitting a lesser .245/.333/.434 last season but added 3 home runs which was tied for second on the team. This year has been even more amazing with Baty pushing to win the final roster spot.

It’s a vacancy where the Mets will need some positional versatility. Although mostly a third baseman, the Mets have publicly said they believe he can play second base and are giving him an opportunity at shortstop as well—mostly for emergency situations or blowouts.

Most importantly, Baty needs to hit. He has done that and yet there’s still a big question. When would he even play?

The Mets aren’t built to have much playing time Brett Baty on their 2025 roster

Baty won’t replace Jeff McNeil at second base regularly due to each hitting left-handed. McNeil won’t replace either corner outfielder or DH Jesse Winker, again all of whom swing from the left side. There isn’t a platoon situation out there that makes much sense at all except putting Baty at third base once in a while when the team may face a tough right-handed pitcher they believe he can smack around better than Mark Vientos. This isn’t so ideal.

Vientos was no bum against right handed pitchers last year. He hit .251/.314/.502 against them with 20 home runs. It was a more than acceptable result for a kid fighting for his MLB roster spot for the first few months.

Vientos would conceivably be an ideal platoon partner to have with Winker if Starling Marte misses the start of the season. But you’re not going to sit Winker, a lefty, and then put Baty, another lefty, at third base. So exactly where does Baty fit in other than as a casual replacement whenever an infielder needs a breather?

Pete Alonso plays every day and there is no real need to ever rest him. One thing that could work, and this is where things begin to get quirky, is to have Brandon Nimmo in center field, Winker in left field, Vientos at the DH spot, and Baty at third base. Those games should be very few. The Mets purposefully have Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor on the roster to avoid Nimmo from playing in center field regularly. What’s more, Winker in the outfield isn’t appetizing. All of this would be for the lone sake of giving Baty big league at-bats.

Meanwhile, the dynamics of having a right-handed hitting infielder on the roster makes far more sense. Luisangel Acuna to the rescue. He easily substitutes at second base for McNeil at second base against lefties. A lack of experience at third base is one minor issue, but one they should be able to overcome with Acuna or maybe even McNeil revisiting the position in times of need. Acuna has speed that would make him an asset off the bench while Baty would be unlikely to even pinch hit for anyone else on the team. As a defensive replacement late in games for Vientos, it makes sense while at the same time doesn’t fully justify carrying him on the roster.

Baty has done his job this spring. Unfortunately, it feels like a losing battle where if he does make the club, he’ll spend most of his time watching until someone else comes there to take the gig away.