Reese Kaplan -- How Long Is the Baby Mets' Leash Going to Be?

Let's get off "they need more pitching" rant for awhile and instead look at the "talk the talk and walk the walk" mindset when it comes to the chances that will be given to the younger Mets hitters who apparently out of budgetary necessity will be given a long and hard look at what they can do with an extended time as regulars in the lineup.

For this thought exercise we will give some rumination about the fates that await Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.  Of the two of them, Baty's lackluster 2023 notwithstanding, he has the far greater probability of accumulating at-bats as there are no real competitors for third base.  The club is pretty crystal clear that they have no faith in Mark Vientos playing the hot corner and backup infielder Joey Wendle does not have the run production potential that Baty possesses.  Consequently Baty seems very much to get a half season look as the regular third baseman to see with the assistance of Eric Chavez if he can cut down on his whiff rate and pitch selection.

The bigger issue for Baty may turn out to be his defense which was pretty awful last year.  Bear in mind that he is considered the superior of the two third base candidates, so Vientos is likely in that "no one else is left" camp when it comes to taking the field alongside Francisco Lindor.  Baty may have been letting his offensive struggles interfere with his concentration to the extent that he booted way too many routine plays and showed substandard range.  If Chavez work his bat magic, then they need a corresponding improvement in how Baty flashes the leather.

Now in the case of Mark Vientos, everyone is well aware of the power exhibition he put together in September when his former manager gave him the opportunity to play regularly.  6 HRs in a month is good and would translate to 36 over the course of a season running from April through September.  That run production at near minimum wage is certainly most appealing and if Vientos can capitalize then he might be a rarity in baseball -- a Designated Hitter who is well under 30 years of age.  

Here's the rub.  The game has become platoon happy and with Vientos being a right handed hitter it's entirely possible that it will start off or morph into a shared DH role with a lefty hitter like DJ Stewart sharing duties.  Now one thing that is a bit different this time around is that the new POBO David Stearns has no long term connection to Stewart and he might instead view his atrocious sub-Mendoza September as more indicative of what he can do as pitchers discover how best to work him.  Consequently, even as a platoon partner he may be less than idea.  Like Vientos, Stewart is a bit of an adventure when it comes to playing the field defensively and he must deliver with his bat if he's going to remain a viable weapon for Carlos Mendoza to use.  

After Stewart the pickings get mighty slim in a hurry.  The aforementioned Joey Wendle bats from the left side, but he's known more for his career with strong defense around the infield.  He's a .263 hitter with limited power and adequate but not stellar running ability.  He's not a classic DH (but then again based upon results neither were Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf and others who have tried and failed for the Mets in the recent past).  

A somewhat forgotten player on the roster is lefty hitting backup catcher Omar Narvaez who was slated to be the starter when 2023 began before his health constrained his ability to take the field.  He's a bit more of a thumper.  Back in 2019 for the Mariners he hit 22 HRs while hitting .278.  Those numbers are not embarrassing.  Unfortunately it was more of an exception rather than the rule.  Baseballreference.com has him slated in a 162 game season to provide 13 HRs with a .255 average.  That level of production won't put fear into oppositing hurlers.

Coming back to Stewart, he has struggled since his arrival to the majors in 2018 to become a regular.  His season high in ABs was just 270 in 2021.  Even as much as he seemed to be in the middle of things for the Mets last year when injuries forced him into the lineup, he only tallied 160 ABs during which he hit 11 HRs while delivering a .244 average.  For his career he has hit 37 HRs and driven in 99 in 687 ABs but with a career batting average of just .220.  Betting heavily on an over-30 Stewart finally to find his mojo seems a bit of a longshot.  

All Vientos can hope is that the club is indeed serious about evaluating the youngest bats in their lineup.  If so, then he'll also have a half season to demonstrate his ability.  If not, then he'll be on the scrap heap of wannabes and never wases who didn't get a chance to develop their talents by playing regularly.