The Mets are looking for Brett Baty or Luisangel Acuña to take a big jump.
The two young infielders have been playing in place of the injured Jeff McNeil to start the season, and while defensively, they’ve both handled second base well, neither one has been able to do much at the plate. McNeil is expected to be back later in the month, and barring any acquisitions, the Mets will keep Acuña or Baty in a utility role.
President of baseball operations David Stearns wants to see one of them grab that spot.
“We kind of need to see some results to get that confidence back,” Stearns said Monday before the Mets opened a series against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. “And if we can have some hits fall for, really for both of those guys, I think hopefully we can get one of them on a roll here and allow us to have a really healthy compliment when we get fully healthy.”
Acuña is 2-for-14 to start the season and Baty is 2-for-21 at the plate. Baty had an incredibly productive spring training but the results haven’t translated, which has become a pattern of sorts with the 25-year-old over the last three seasons.
“I think on both players, they haven’t gotten off to the stars that they would have liked,” Stearns said. “Brett had a really hot spring training and we saw the type of potential and quality of at-bats that he had. And I think for him, it’s just getting back to that approach and probably seeing some results.”
The Mets had their reservations about both of them in spring training. There were questions about Acuña’s work ethic and Baty’s ability to play defense. Acuña, 23, could probably benefit from playing every day with Triple-A Syracuse, but Baty has already shown he can hit Triple-A pitching.
It’s tough to know how to evaluate the two of them at the moment, but the good news is that they’ve both shown well in the field, so the Mets aren’t missing much defensively.
But they sure could use McNeil’s bat back in the lineup.
“Acuña is a very solid defender, that’s been his calling card throughout his career, and he’s continued to demonstrate that at the major league level,” Stearns said. “Brett shifting to a new position has, I think, done a really good job. He’s probably exceeded our expectations in terms of how quickly he would adjust to that position at the major league level, with very limited minor league experience.”
To be fair, the bottom of the lineup hasn’t given the Mets much, so the blame isn’t solely on Baty and Acuña. Mark Vientos, who had a breakout season last year, has also struggled to hit, and especially hitting with runners on base. It’s been a bit unexpected, and the Mets are also without power-hitting catcher Francisco Alvarez (hamate bone surgery), which doesn’t help.
Still, the Mets have largely been able to overcome a lack of production at the bottom because of a strong bullpen. At 6-3 with a run differential of +11, the Mets aren’t exactly mashing their way to wins right now, but an MLB-best 1.29 relief ERA has helped the team hold slim leads.
They’ve also had to absorb some short starts, and are currently equipped to do so with multiple relievers who can pitch multiple innings.
Right-hander Dedniel Nuñez is going through what Stearns called a “structured progression” in Triple-A, but for now, the Mets aren’t about to touch the best bullpen in baseball.
“I don’t know whether this is an industry trend, but I do think it is important, particularly early in the season, to be able to insulate your staff with that type of multi-inning reliever,” Stearns said.
Alvarez and McNeil could return within a few weeks to bolster the lineup, and right-hander Paul Blackburn will return in a few weeks to help either as another long reliever or a sixth rotation arm. While things are going well for the Mets at the moment, the young infielders remain somewhat of an area of concern.
“I would love to see one, or both of them, perform at a really high level before [we] have to make those decisions, and prove that they’re going to be able to really contribute throughout the course of the year and help our team win games,” Stearns said.
