Reese Kaplan -- Mets Infield Is Mighty Crowded Now & In the Future

A great many people are jumping onto the Brett Baty bandwagon to be the every day third baseman for the Mets from this day forward.  These same folks seem to have short memories having watched him stumble and fail after shining in Florida this past pre-season, having done the same in New York in 2024, 2023 and 2022. 

To be fair, he’s doing quite well in the May 2025 abbreviated calendar.  He’s hit with power, drove in runs and raised his batting average about 25 points from what he did in April.  His fielding has been solid if unspectacular, but compared to what Mark Vientos has done fielding his position he looks like Brooks Robinson by comparison.

The plan of late has Vientos shifting from the hot corner to Designated Hitter with Baty taking over at third.  This arrangement of player resources looks like it could be a winner if (and it’s a big if) both players continue to hit.  Vientos also had a struggling April and though he’s hitting for average and drawing walks, his May numbers are not showing a lot of run production. 

Behind these players are Ronny Mauricio in AAA, Jeff McNeil on the big club and Luisangel Acuna who has found the worst possible time to descend into a batting slump.  Acuna is a solid defender and a terror as a base stealing theft, but without power and his batting average plummeting fast folks are wondering if he is in need of more time in Syracuse.  After another strong series of games from Ronny Mauricio you would have to wonder if folks will be clamoring for a swapping of bench roles between Acuna and the former hot prospect Mauricio. 

For now most folks are willing to allow Baty to flex his major league muscles in a regular role against both left handed pitching and right handed pitching.  He won’t shake off the past history of major league struggles until he can prove he can hold his own against all mound opponents.  Mark Vientos was not thrust into a platoon role last season when he showed he could hit against anyone and in 2025 he’s also been called upon to play regular regardless of who’s pitching.  Until the very recent change with Juan Soto and Pete Alonso’s slots in the batting order Vientos did quite a few games at cleanup. 

It will be interesting to see how Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns address the logjam in the infield moving forward.  Not only are they looking at the major league options, but also considering what to do with the folks on the farm looking for playing opportunities. Behind the rehabbing Mauricio stands hot hitting Jett Williams who needs a place to play in the near future, too.  Joining him with the lumber is the eye popping .336 hitting of Jacob Reimer behind him in Brooklyn. 

While the offense being missing in action is a tough obstacle to overcome, the blueprint for the future seems to be a nice problem to have.