The Mets’ playoff push officially just got a little bit harder.
Ahead of Saturday’s must-win game against the Marlins in Miami, the Mets announced that infielder Brett Baty was headed to the injured list. His bounce-back season is essentially over.
The Mets have called up infielder Jared Young from Triple-A Syracuse in his place.
“It hurts a lot,” Baty told reporters, followed by a brief pause, via SNY, “but I’m going to root on my teammates and we’re going to try to go to the postseason today and tomorrow.”
This season, Baty finally played up to the potential the Mets once saw in him. His .254/.313/.445 slashline with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs all represent career-highs for the 25-year-old infielder.
Baty’s been especially dangerous at the plate late in the season. In 43 games since Aug. 1, he’s 41-for-133 (.308 batting average) with an .866 OPS, including seven home runs and 16 RBIs.
“Personally, I thought I played great,” Baty said, via SNY. “Helped the ballclub win, that’s all I was trying to do. Put together good at-bats and played good defense.”
Fortunately, the Mets are deep at third base. They have Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, who can take reps at the hot corner. This does limit what they can do with Jeff McNeil, who’s been splitting time between second base and center field.
With Baty out of the picture, McNeil likely becomes the team’s everyday second baseman, meaning they’ll have to rely on Tyrone Taylor and Cedric Mullins to hold down center field. Combined, Taylor and Mullins are batting .218 with 19 home runs.
In other news, the Mets have outrighted center fielder Jose Siri and left-hander Richard Lovelady to Triple-A. Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week and cleared waivers, meaning they will remain with the club.
