The 5 most important Mets who have to prove they belong in the big leagues

The New York Mets roster will experience more chances before Opening Day. However, it does feel as if these five holdovers from last season will remain with the organization in some capacity. Important in their own right, the trouble is none have secured a roster spot despite how much they matter.

These five critical Mets players will have to prove they belong in the big leagues next season.

1) Brett Baty

Brett Baty will at least get a chance to reclaim his spot as the starting third baseman for the Mets in 2023. They’ve continually claimed the plan is to go internal at the position while only straying away from this plan upon seeing Ronny Mauricio get hurt. As the most experienced among the candidates (aside from Joey Wendle), it’s easy to see how Baty ends up coming away as the winner of the hot corner battle even if Mauricio makes a miraculous return.

But there are some problems with Baty. Plenty of them. He hasn’t been good enough on offense to excuse his terrible defense. It would be one thing for the Mets to run him out onto the field each day and know there’s a good chance he makes up for any lackluster defense with a big hit. He’s too uncertain on both sides of the ball right now.

Could Baty possibly lose his roster spot entirely before Opening Day? The previous regime wasn’t afraid to demote him. We shouldn’t expect the current one to have any attachment. He’d have to be unplayable to begin the year anywhere else but in the majors. The Mauricio injury basically guarantees him a longer leash.

Baty has miles to go before proving he should be the starting third baseman. And if he’s not starting at third base, does he have much of a role at all?

2) Mark Vientos

It’s easy to find a place for Baty on this roster. What about Mark Vientos? The less-talented defensive player who has become more of a first baseman/DH should enter the third base competition even more with Mauricio out. If he came away as the winner, it would be one of the ultimate upsets of the spring.

Vientos, much like Baty, didn’t exactly win over anyone with his offensive output. He did finish strong. In far fewer chances, he was able to outperform Baty in several areas. The shortcomings are still ever-present with Vientos. A lack of position and some very pedestrian offensive numbers have him on the outs when it comes to finding a specific role with this team.

The final month of the season could be a closer preview of the best Vientos has to offer. He slashed .230/.280/.460 in those final 93 plate appearances while adding 6 of his 9 home runs. The Mets were unafraid to open up playing time for him in those final days of the 2023 season. After a frustrating year where he rode the bench plenty upon his initial call up, the consistent playing time seemed to make a difference.

As positive as it was, it wasn’t nearly good enough to anoint him with a roster spot. His future will rely heavily on what the plan is at the DH spot. It’s the only reasonable place to give him regular at-bats.

3) David Peterson

David Peterson won’t make the Opening Day roster. Hip surgery will cause him to begin the season on the IL. His return is unknown, but once healthy, Peterson is going to have to win his way back to the majors.

Now 28, Peterson should be in or about to enter the prime of his career. In a lot of ways he still feels like one of the young bucks on the roster. He’s anything but. Having now tossed a total of 333 innings for the Mets, Peterson remains somewhat of a mystery. He’s good one year and not so the next.

Interestingly, whenever the Mets seem to give Peterson a roster spot, he struggles. It’s the seasons when he has been forced to battle where he pitches better. He snuck onto the roster in 2020 after Marcus Stroman hit the IL. He did the same in 2022 as a depth piece they moved back and forth from the minors and at times placed into the bullpen.

Not much has changed with Peterson through the years. He still walks too many batters. He has a tendency to go cold at times. This forces him back into sixth starter status. Each time he gets himself up the hill, the boulder he pushed drops back down. The 2024 season will be another year where he starts at the bottom.

4) Ronny Mauricio

Ronny Mauricio is one of the likelier players on this list to keep a roster spot even if he isn’t performing at the level the Mets want him to. He has just one minor league option remaining. Due to his 40-man roster status in previous years, the Mets have lost some flexibility with him in the future.

Of course, he’ll start the year on the IL. However, upon returning, the Mets would waste his final option if they were to demote him to Syracuse. They lose any future changes to send him back. Mauricio is the least experienced of the Baby Mets and yet he’ll have an advantage whenever he does heal up.

More so than managing the roster, Mauricio seems to have enough tools to secure a variety of roles on the team. He won’t be the defensive utility player Wendle will work as. Mauricio can, instead, be more of a threat on the bases and hopefully at the plate.

The amount of time the Mets will have to see Mauricio prove and earn his roster spot won’t be vast. They’ll possibly have to do it on the fly, maybe even in a pennant race. Mauricio is far away from claiming a roster spot. His battle to win one will have to wait further.