According to league sources, the New York Mets will make a number of roster changes on Friday, including moving Brett Baty to third base and optioning rookie starting pitcher Christian Scott. They will also make a change at catcher.
Here are some explanations for each choice.
Scott to be optioned, reliever on the way
Scott showed promise in five starts, recording a 3.90 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and six walks in 27 2/3 innings pitched.
It is anticipated that Scott will return shortly. With a few days off coming up before their games in London, the Mets will not need six starters, so they are sending him down. Scott threw his best number of innings as a professional last year with 87 2/3, so this change might also help manage his workload. Since Scott has been mostly relying on his fastball in recent outings, the Mets would like to see him work on his secondary pitches in Triple A.
It makes sense that the Mets would want to recall Dedniel Núñez in order to have another reliever available. They have been using their bullpen a lot, and just this Thursday they called up lefty Danny Young and assigned Jorge López for assignment. Drew Smith and Edwin Díaz are both on the 15-day injury list for the Mets. Following surgery this week, Brooks Raley is anticipated to miss the entire season.
Baty to be optioned, Iglesias heading up
Mark Vientos was given a chance to play third base by the Mets. The timing makes sense because the Mets anticipate seeing more left-handed pitching.
With both third basemen on the field, New York had been without a backup middle infielder. According to sources, the team plans to add Jose Iglesias from Triple-A Syracuse to the roster.
Throughout his 11 major league seasons, Iglesias is most recognized for his work at shortstop defensively up the middle. Iglesias started at third base for the first time in 2024 two weeks ago. He might play third defense in the latter stages of games. Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor have been playing every inning of every game for a time now, including all outs of a doubleheader on Tuesday, and the Mets do not have another day off until Thursday. Iglesias is another right-handed bat that the Mets selected in part because of his defense, but they also picked him because he can assist with all the lefties they will be facing.
Vientos provided some offense, which eased the burden of making a tough choice. When Baty was having trouble and their lineup was inconsistent overall earlier in May, the Mets called him up from Syracuse to accomplish precisely that. Both 24 year olds Baty and Vientos were added to the squad as platoon members (Baty bats left-handed and Vientos bats right-handed), but Vientos was also given starts against right-handed starting pitchers.
The Mets believe that Baty has the potential to be a good major league player, and they are hoping that a return to Triple A would help him regain some offensive confidence. Officials within the club are happy with his defensive development.
Vientos has three home runs and a.945 OPS in 48 plate appearances. He is 10 for 37 (.270 batting average) with two home runs, four walks, and ten strikeouts since being called up on May 15.
After 169 plate appearances, the team’s Opening Day third baseman, Baty, has a meager.628 OPS. He has struck out around thirty-five percent of the time in May.
Torrens arriving from Yankees for cash
Omar Narváez, who will be designated for assignment, was released by the Mets. He never recovered from Francisco Alvarez’s injury, either offensively or defensively. Rather, Tomás Nido saw the most of the field time and outperformed Narváez, who hit just.154/.191/.185 and had trouble throwing out runners or playing good defense. (Narváez, 32, agreed to a guaranteed $15 million two-year contract prior to the 2023 campaign.)
The Mets believe Luis Torrens has significantly improved his pitch-framing abilities. He can play both infield and left field, demonstrating his versatility.
But when Alvarez comes back, the Mets will have to choose between Nido and Torrens. Alvarez’s rehab assignment in the minor leagues began on Thursday with Double-A Binghamton.
(Photo of Christian Scott: Donovan / NurPhoto via Associated Press)
