Brett Baty Should Never Play Over Mark Vientos
New York Mets fans patience with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos has understandably run out. For some reason, most of the vitriol is directed towards Vientos, and bafflingly the Mets are more invested in Baty.
For a good chunk of the season, we’ve seen some form of a Baty/Vientos platoon. That means more Baty, which can only mean the Mets want to be bad.
For their careers, Vientos has a 98 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Baty has a 93. Vientos is better against right-handed pitching, and yet, the Mets force Baty’s weaker bat into the lineup.
We’ve seen Vientos have a 27 home run season followed by a GREAT postseason. Baty literally only has one good 24 game stretch.
We can conjure a scenario where Vientos can be that 27 home run guy again. That goes double when you consider he’s historically taken off around Memorial Day (minor league track record).
There’s nothing to suggest Baty is anything more than a back of the bench utility guy. He’s a less fun version of Joe McEwing, who will be never have anything like McEwing’s inexplicable success against Randy Johnson.
We can’t make this about defense either. They’re not third basemen anymore. Baty was far better at third, but Vientos is much better than Baty.
There is literally no justification for playing Baty. He’s the guy who at the end of his career he won’t be a “has been,” he will be a “never was.”
At least with Vientos, there’s something. We’ve seen success, and we’ve seen him come through in the biggest moments. Again, Baty has one good 24 game stretch.
Looking more at Vientos, he struggled at each promotion in the minors. He adjusted, dominated, and repeated. This is a guy who has had real struggles, and he has a history of figuring it out . . . when given the opportunity.
Baty doesn’t. It’s not who he is.
Consider this, Baty is literally only 28 days older than Vientos. Both were drafted out of high school, but Baty was drafted two years after Vientos.
As a result, while Vientos was trying to figure it out against players 2-3 years older in the Sally League, Baty was dominating high schoolers 2-3 years younger than him. Somehow, the Mets constantly go away from the player who fought to go with Baty.
Vientos has had Major League success. He’s shown the ability to make adjustments and thrive. Baty’s never done that.
Let’s stop lying to ourselves. Play Vientos. Sit Baty.