Top Mets’ Prospects Continue to Make Their Case for a Call-Up
The Mets’ offense had a phenomenal night… just not the ones that play in Queens. The Syracuse Mets scored seven runs (albeit in a 9-7 loss) and had home runs from all three of the team’s elite prospects that are currently playing in Triple-A. Brett Baty led the way with an eye-popping 3-for-5 evening to […]
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The Mets’ offense had a phenomenal night… just not the ones that play in Queens. The Syracuse Mets scored seven runs (albeit in a 9-7 loss) and had home runs from all three of the team’s elite prospects that are currently playing in Triple-A.
Brett Baty led the way with an eye-popping 3-for-5 evening to go along with a double and his third home run of the season.
Brett Baty may not be human. pic.twitter.com/PxzoORaHOz
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) April 12, 2023
Baty is hitting close to .400 for Syracuse thus far, and even with Eduardo Escobar beginning to show signs of life on the major-league club, the pressure is ramping up for the Mets to make a move.
Meanwhile, Ronny Mauricio continues to absolutely rake as well. Mauricio has propelled his hot spring training into a phenomenal start to his minor-league season. On Tuesday, Mauricio blasted his fourth homer of the season, and added a walk which is always worth noting.
Put that swing in the Louvre
Ronny. Mauricio. Again. pic.twitter.com/e5db0toTEN
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) April 11, 2023
Mauricio’s early-season OPS is up to a whopping .1.245 after his big day on Tuesday, and, while he’s probably the least likely of the group to get called up any time soon, the Mets at least have to be giving it some consideration if he continues to hit Triple-A pitching like this.
Not to be outdone, Mark Vientos also stated his case to be a consideration for the Mets’ right-handed DH with a homer of his own on Tuesday night. Vientos also continues to dominate against Triple-A pitching, slashing .333/.421/.636 thus far this season.
Like a left-field home run ball…
That one from Mark Vientos is going, going, gone. pic.twitter.com/ez3hb1P1CR
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) April 12, 2023
While Baty, Mauricio, and Vientos were continuing to rack up extra-base hits in Syracuse, the major-league Mets struggled at the plate once more on Tuesday night, falling 4-2 to the Padres and managing only five hits.
The New York Mets are hitting only .214 on the season, 27th in the majors, and have managed only 45 runs, good enough for 23rd. They also continue to lack any significant pop outside of Pete Alonso, as the rest of the team has combined to hit five home runs in 12 games.
In their six losses this season, the Mets have scored 1, 0, 0, 6, 2, and 2 runs, respectively.
Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Starling Marte aren’t going anywhere, but the rest of the Mets’ regulars are not guaranteed playing time if they don’t carry their weight offensively (the possible exception may be the catcher situation, which is a complicated issue in and of itself after Francisco Álvarez has been given limited opportunities since his call-up and the Mets seem to strongly prefer a defense-first veteran).
While the Mets still have 150 games to play this season, they simply can’t afford to fall too far behind the Braves (8-4) if they want to have a shot in the NL East. The starting rotation and bullpen have been far from perfect to start this season, but their lack of offensive prowess has been the biggest cause for concern.
It’s also the area with the easiest potential fix. Baty, Mauricio, Vientos are all highly-regarded prospects who could give the team an injection of life, much like Michael Harris II did for Atlanta a season ago.
It’s unlikely that the trio will continue to stay this scorching hot at the same time for much longer, and their numbers may go down over time. Still, they’ve more than proven they’re ready for the challenge of playing in the bigs. Meanwhile, the Mets’ offense is sputtering. It feels like only a matter of time before those two things intersect, and the Mets are forced into giving their young players a shot.
The post Top Mets’ Prospects Continue to Make Their Case for a Call-Up first appeared on Metsmerized Online.