With Tuesday’s 0-3 with a strikeout performance, Brett Baty has slipped below The Galvis Line, as his OPS+ now sits at 79. And to make matters worse, Baty has a 24.6 K% to go along with his .087 ISO. He’s not doing anything noteworthy offensively and, quite frankly, he’s fortunate to still be in the majors.
Reports have the Mets calling up Mark Vientos and let’s make one thing crystal clear. In no way, shape or form should this be a platoon situation. Baty received a significant shot in 2023 and a good-sized opportunity here this season. And in that span of 527 PA, Baty has a .217/.280/.322 line, which is just awful.
Vientos might be just as bad. But he deserves consistent playing time like Baty received in the past two years. My opinion is that Vientos will hit if given a real shot, even if it’s power over AVG and OBP. Right now, the highest SLG for anyone with at least 10 PA is Pete Alonso, with a .452 mark. It wouldn’t be a surprise to me if 100 PA from now, Vientos had a SLG better than Alonso’s current mark. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if he did it with a .222 AVG and people focused on that rather than the power he was delivering.
In a perfect world, players would excel at everything. But most players fall far short of that ideal. We need to focus on what they do well and see if that makes up for deficiencies elsewhere. Baty has been pretty good defensively this year. But that doesn’t make up for how awful he’s been in the batter’s box. If Vientos delivers a .455 SLG that will very likely make up for his low AVG and his less than stellar defense.
Vientos should start at third base and Baty should be in AAA. Iglesias should be the utility infielder and the late inning defensive replacement for Vientos. Give Vientos about 225 PA uninterrupted to see how he does. Also monitor Baty at AAA and reevaluate the situation at third base. I would expect that Vientos could put up at least an average production of 230/303/420 with 9 HR in that time span.
I always thought LF was where good hit no field guys were positioned or 1B.
The Mets tried Vientos in the OF in the minors and were unimpressed. He’s played 1B in the majors but that position on the Mets is taken this year.
FWIW, I don’t think he’ll ever be good defensively at 3B but it’s not like he’s a train wreck, like Nick Castellanos was. If everything breaks right, he can be like 2016 Asdrubal Cabrera and be a below-average fielder yet still be a valuable player overall.
How many weeks ago was it that someone on game chatter suggested that Vientos was a worthless AAAA player?
Vientos’ fielding makes little sense because he seems fairly athletic. He just lacks a natural eye for defense. Ultimately, he’s a first baseman on a team with Alonso but Brian isn’t wrong that he can manage 3rd base in a pinch. If/when Ronny Mauricio comes back the Mets have more potential for long term solutions at 3rd or in left field.
You have to give Name credit because he says that every time Vientos is mentioned.
Vientos and Japan go together like sushi and soy sauce!
That’s hysterical Name!
Chris, serious question:
Is sushi with soy sauce a good thing, or bad?
test
But Baty and Dairy Queen night manager do as well, so its looking like Vierntos should get a real shot as we wait for Mauricio. Ir for the Mets to figure out 3B some other way.
Worth noting:
David Peterson is making his way through rehab and has been pretty flawless in all of his outings. He’s given up 1 walk and only 7 hits in 14.0 innings of work rehabbing in St. Lucie and now Binghamton. On the way he’s garnered 24 strikeouts a 0.57 WHIP and is getting opponents to keep the ball on the ground.
Stearns attempted last offseason to focus on D and give some young bats an opportunity. Neither the D nor the young bars have been great. Baty is disappointing but not yet a total write-off. However, it’s more important for the team in the near term and for 2025 to give Vientos that extended opportunity in the bigs. Baty can get the rest of 2024 in AAA and be evaluated at year end. They need more pop now, and they need to see if Vientos can provide it reliably in the bugs as the first order of business, and if so, then determine if he can play 3B well enough to not be a net negative. If he can provide reliable pop, at a minimum he can be Alonso and/or JD Martinez insurance.
From SNY:
“As part of a few roster moves, the Mets have designated Joey Wendle for assignment.
Yohan Ramírez has also been designated for assignment, while José Butto has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse and Grant Hartwig, Joey Lucchesi, and Mark Vientos have been called up.”
Butto deserves better.
After all, Butto is the 5th starter and has an option. He did have give up a single, three walks and a HBP in one inning resulting in two runs. He wasn’t going to pitch until 5 days anyway. Butto can work on his control in the minors. Lucchesi gets a start then Megill the next around. Stearns is just buying time so he see if Quintana can straightened himself out. The move really is because of the roster crunch and not a reflection of Butto’s ability.
Butto and the rest of the starters have a problem walking too many batters. BB/9 is about 4. That’s a lot of free baserunners per game. Phillies BB/9 is about 2.5. Mets might have a winning record but for walks.
He’s 5th starter only in terms of status, not production. Would you rather see Butto or Quintana on the mound in May of 2024 if it was a must-win game?
I’d take Butto over Quintana and agree his demotion is unwise. He feels a bit like Mets-era Zack Wheeler: great stuff, but lacking control. If Butto can evolve like Wheeler did (in PHI) and gain control, then I’d be over-the-moon.
“Mets-era Zack Wheeler: great stuff, but lacking control.”
Paul, I’d amend your remark as follows
“Mets-era Zack Wheeler: great stuff, but fragile.”
This May there isn’t any May must-win games so they should use Quintana instead of Butto so that Quintana has a chance to right himself to increase any trade value he has. Quintana doesn’t get a free pass though. He has to right himself in the next 2 starts when Butto is eligible to be recalled. Quintana should get traded before the trade deadline in order to free a roster space.
We have no idea how things are going to turn out. If you miss the playoffs by one game, the games you pissed away in April and May are just as painful as the ones you do in September. My approach is to try to give the team the best chance to win whenever possible, regardless of the month in the calendar. And my opinion is that Butto gives them a much better chance now than Quintana.
My wife had an indirect brush with Mets greatness today. She was shopping at a local grocery store in Richland County South Carolina when she saw a fellow shopper decked out in Mets gear including a jersey. She mentioned her husband had written for the Mets 360 website. He said he had seen the site and that his cousin had played for the Mets. My wife couldn’t remember the name when she got home, she thought it was something like “Noonan”. That did not ring a bell for me, so I thought for a few seconds then said “could that be “Mookie” by any chance?” she excitedly replied in the affirmative, so I’ll have to wear my Mets cap the next time we go there.
That’s terrific!
There’s a lot of pitchers,not so many hitters! Maybe a trade or two.
I look at Brett Baty and I think – it took Alec Bohm 3 or 4 seasons as the full time starting 3rd baseman for the phillies and look at him now. These things take time. And Baty’s defense is well beyond where Bohm’s was at the same stage.
Bohm’s bat was much bigger than Baty’s in his first season (137 OPS+ in 44 games, 180 PAs). He regressed the following year to a 75 – OK, thats more or less Batyish, then posted 101 and 106.
I’ll keep an open mind. But right now, I’d be thrilled to see Baty get anywhere near 100 next year. And there’s no way he does it staying at this level. He has things he needs to work out, and he is too overmatched to do that in the majors.
Happy to give Vientos an extended shot to play. I always thought that LF was where you put your weakest fielder as I believe it’s the easiest position to play. Baty worked hard to make himself a better 3B – Vientos should take a page out of that book. I am concerned having no real infield backup but I guess if Lindor went down, they would being up one of the kids. Vientos and sushi is a very funny line. Don’t expect to see Mets
farm hands playing in positions where they can’t field anymore. Forgot about Mauricio who maybe will be their 2B next year after they dump McNeil at the trade deadline. This is an even numbered year when McNeil is supposed to hit well. Glad to see wendle go-they should have just held on to Guillorme. There is plenty for Stearns to answer for with this roster of backup players that he is trying to make starters – like Bader.
If they could play 500 ball in June it will turn their season around. That’s the month they usually take a big step towards the off season.
“No really, Steve Cohen’s mind is literally already on the deadline.
In the middle of New York’s 10-5 loss to the Philles, Cohen responded to a tweet referring to the Mets blowing it up this season.
“All in the future, not much we can do until trade deadline,” Cohen wrote.”
https://fansided.com/posts/steve-cohen-deleted-tweet-hints-at-major-mets-fire-sale-if-things-don-t-change-quickly-01hxzpk70hfj
That Fansided piece fails to provide context. Cohen’s tweet was in response to a blogger who says the Mets should start now and just blow the team and trade everyone, starting with Alonso.
Cohen’s response was foolish, badly worded. But it could be interpreted as him just blowing off the blogger’s stance, rather than him thinking ahead to the deadline.
This morning, May 16th, the Mets are 19-23 and one measly game out of the playoffs. That was a pessimistic comment. Yes, the future should be rosy and the present lends the Mets an opportunity. If they keep within strikingly distance the trade deadline should be interesting.
Brian opened another thread with the following remark:
“Old baseball wisdom states that you’re going to win one-third of your games no matter what you do and lose one-third in the same fashion.”
This reminded me of a recent a mental exercise: How much does it cost to create a championship team? Of course, there are an uncountably¹ infinite number of contributing factors.
In particular, I was wondering, by the literal definition of WAR, what would be the expected W/L record for a team whose cumulative WAR is 0.0. And, is it true that every +1.0 value of WAR has cost of $7M?
1. As opposed to countably infinite
This reminded me of a recent mental exercise:
Found a partial answer, but it being on Reddit does not give me comfort:
If you ever want to calculate it without knowing the exact number it is rather easy. The important thing to remember is that both fangraphs and bref give out 1000 war a year. In a season, there is the possibility of winning 2430 games (8130 or 16215). Therefore 1430 wins for the 30 teams are attributed to just being replacement level (2430-1000). 1430/30, would then give us the wins one team would get with replacement level players. As others have said this is 47ish.
LHP Josh Walker has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.
LHP Joey Lucchesi was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse following last night’s game.
Brooks Raley’s second opinion called it a UCL strain. He will rest for two weeks before trying to throw again.
Drew Smith felt a pinch in his last rehab outing. resting for a few days. Expected return now pushed back to late May.
The Mets now plan on starting Tylor Megill on 5/20 against the Guardians.
Mets traded Yohan Ramirez to the Dodgers for cash. Guess that’s the move that gets Megill back on the 26-man roster.
They also optioned Grant Hartwig – that’s the move that opens up space for Megill.
(Trading Ramirez does not create any space – he had already been removed from the roster when they DFA’d him last week).
Thanks for the correction/update/clarification
My opinion is that neither Hartwig nor Walker are really good MLB relievers. My hope is they both get replaced on the 40-man soon.
Although I’m not a big fan of FG and often go a week between visits, they have two recent articles of interest
They directly address two thoughts I’ve had recently:
1. Why do Mets360ers dislike meaty LH hitting DHs with high OBPs and limited skills otherwise?
2. What’s wrong with our formerly lights-out fireman?
“DJ Stewart Is Walking Here” dated 5/15/24
“Edwin Díaz Isn’t Fully Back Yet” dated 5/21/24