Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez all came up with one another in the Mets‘ minor league system, reaching some of the same development benchmarks at the same time. The trio all started the season with Triple-A Syracuse in 2023, and despite having not been there for long, Baty says that brief time period was some of the most fun he’s had playing baseball.
The trio dubbed the “Baby Mets” have been close friends for years and always talked about playing in the same lineup in the big leagues. That happened Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
“I feel like we’ve done a good job when you see a lineup like the one today,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “That’s the first thing [I thought of] when I was going through it last night. I was like, ‘Man, we’ve got a lot of homegrown guys here.’”
Saturday as a whole could be seen as a win for the club’s player development department. Six of the Mets’ nine hitters came from the Mets’ minor league system. Luisangel Acuña came in a trade nearly two years ago, but the Mets can still take some credit for the infielder’s development.
Tylor Megill, the starting pitcher was also drafted and developed by the Mets, and the top bench bat, Jeff McNeil, has long been touted as a scouting success for the club.
“It’s what you want to see,” Mendoza said. “And then we’ve got more coming. There are a lot of people working really hard behind the scenes to impact development teaching these guys and helping these guys continue to get better with the games. And I feel like we’ve seen a lot of results here now, not only with position players, but on the pitching side too.”
Blade Tidwell, a top pitching prospect, made his big league debut last weekend in a doubleheader, and there is a real chance that Tidwell and Brandon Sproat contribute later in the summer.
The Mets still have a ways to go before they start churning out major leaguers at the rate of other teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Houston Astros, but seven homegrown players in one game shows the club is on the right track.
CITI FIELD SINGALONG
Fans were taken by surprise Friday night when Francisco Lindor came out to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. He hasn’t abandoned “My Girl” by the Temptations and he doesn’t plan to, especially not now that Citi Field is finally singing in unison, but he added the song as an alternate.
“It’s the vibes I’m in right now,” the shortstop said. “I think it’s a fantastic song. Hopefully the fans can vibe to it too.”
Lindor started using “My Girl” last season as a tribute to his wife, Katia, and their two daughters, Kalina and Amapola. Katia recently gave birth to the couple’s third child, a boy named Koa. The additional tune is still dedicated to his family, but it’s one Lindor heard recently and decided he needed to incorporate.
“A couple days ago I heard the song and was like, ‘Man, this is a banger,’” he said. “I’m all about vibes, and these are the vibes right now.”
Fans may not be able to hit the high notes like Terrell, but then again, neither can Lindor.
“I can’t do it,” he said. “But at least I try.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Center fielder Jose Siri (fractured left tibia) is progressing much quicker than the Mets anticipated. While the Mets still aren’t ready to put a firm timeline on a return to action, Siri’s progress is positive. He’s been running, doing light sprint work, hitting in the cage, off the tee and playing catch.
