With things not going well over the past few weeks, the Mets decided to shake things up a bit prior to Friday night’s matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks, optioning Brett Baty and Christian Scott back down to Triple-A Syracuse.
While Baty’s demotion doesn’t come as much of a surprise with his continued up-and-down production at the plate, Scott has thrown the ball very well over the first five starts of his big-league career.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza explained the tough decision while speaking with reporters pregame at Citi Field, citing the outlook of the team’s upcoming schedule as a big reason on both fronts.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” he said on Baty. “Where we are in the schedule with the doubleheader the other day and then facing four lefties in the next six games there wasn’t going to be much playing time for Brett. It’s time for him to go down there and continue to get playing time, continue to get reps, continue to develop.”
Baty’s just about mastered the minor league level, tearing the cover off the ball during his past few stints, but he hasn’t quite been able to carry that success over to the majors yet.
The 24-year-old has improved tremendously from a defensive standpoint, but he’s hitting just .225 through 49 games this season and he’s been striking out too much, continuously pounding the ball into the ground, and not hitting for nearly enough power.
Mendoza and the Mets are hoping that with some increased playing down in the minors he’ll be able to continue his development and get some much-needed confidence back at the plate.
“It’s not an easy transition,” the skipper said. “The goal is just for him to go down and continue to get reps and get comfortable. We all know how hard he worked defensively, now it’s more of him going down and getting some confidence back, especially in the box.
“He’s had success in the minors and at times we’ve seen it here, he’s had stretches where he’s impacting the baseball and not chasing, but then he goes through stretches where it’s part of the development and that’s what we told him. He’s going to be back here and he’ll continue to play a huge role for this team moving forward.”
For now, though, it’ll be Mark Vientos who receives the majority of the playing time over at the hot corner for the first time in his big-league career.
While questions remain around the 24-year-old’s defense, Mendoza and the Mets are happy with what they’ve seen on both sides of the ball in his brief return to Queens and they’re ready to hand him the keys for now.
“We’re comfortable with him there,” he said. “Vientos will get his chances here but Brett will be back as well, so for the time being he’ll play. We like where he’s at offensively and defensively, so give credit to him and he’ll continue to work.”
As for Scott, the first-year manager reiterated the same type of message.
With numerous off days worked into the upcoming schedule due to the two-game road trip against the Philadelphia Phillies in London, there’s simply no need for a six-man rotation at the moment, but the top prospect will be back before you know it.
“He’s a big-league pitcher,” Mendoza said. “The way he’s handled himself here, the performance, and things like that this is nothing more than where we’re at in the schedule with off days coming up. We don’t need a six-man rotation, we need a bullpen arm, but he’ll be back here and he understands that.”
Scott has more than looked the part, showing tremendous poise and confidence while pitching to a 3.90 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over his first few big-league outings.
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