Brett

Baty

We saw Luisangel Acuña draw the start on Opening Day against an opposing left-hander and now Baty is in there with Hunter Brown toeing the slab for the Astros on Friday night. It seems like this will be a straight platoon situation with Baty getting the strong side of the at-bats there, making him an interesting middle infield option in deeper mixed leagues for the time being.

With the Astros throwing left-hander Framber Valdez, the Mets will turn to Acuña at second base instead of the left-handed-hitter Baty. Acuña didn’t have as impressive a spring, and Baty will likely be on the strong side of the platoon and starting against right-handed pitchers, but it’s worth noting that the Mets are going to give both young players at-bats early in the season. The Mets’ full lineup is: Francisco Lindor SS, Juan Soto RF, Pete Alonso 1B, Mark Vientos 3B, Brandon Nimmo LF, Starling Marte DH, Tyrone Taylor CF, Luisangel Acuna 2B, Luis Torrens C.

McNeil is expected back in mid-April. Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña will play second base until then, with Acuña getting the nod against a lefty today.

It was pretty much a lock at this stage of the spring, but it’s nice to have official confirmation. Acuña’s fantasy appeal has taken a slight hit with former top prospect Brett Baty tearing the cover off the ball in Grapefruit League action to wrestle the starting second base job away. The 23-year-old speedster will open the year in a versatile multi-position role.

Baty earned the job with a strong showing in the Grapefruit League; one that reminded that he’s not long removed from being one of the top prospects in the sport. Hayden Senger, Max Kranick and Huascar Brázoban have also been informed they’ll make the team, with those roster moves becoming official Thursday. Baty is worth keeping an eye on in redraft leagues.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza made it official that Reed Garrett, José Butto and Danny Young will open the year in New York’s bullpen. The decision to jettison Walton leaves Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña as the Mets’ primary bench options, but they haven’t officially made the team yet, added Mendoza. It also means that A.J. Minter and Dedniel Nuñez are probably headed to the injured list.

The double was a more impressive shot than the homer, leaving his bat at 109.8 mph and traveling 393 feet to center. Baty is batting .354/.415/.708 in 53 plate appearances. It’s still unclear whether the Mets will be comfortable giving him much time at second base — he was back at third today — but he should join Luisangel Acuña on the roster with Jeff McNeil on the injured list.

Baty scalded an RBI triple to right field in the fourth inning to raise his spring average to .333 (14-for-42). The 25-year-old former top prospect is doing everything possible to put himself in the mix to break camp as New York’s starting second baseman over Luisangel Acuña, who might get pushed to a utility role instead.

The rest of the lineup looks a lot like an Opening Day lineup for the Mets. Baty has now started the last three games with the rest of the presumed starters and four of the last five, so it seems like the team favors him over Luisangel Acuna at this point. Baty is hitting .308 with two home runs in 43 plate appearances this spring and would be 2B/3B eligible in most formats, so he’s worth a late-round gamble to see if he can stake his claim to this job.

He did commit an error on a hard grounder in the second. Baty is going to get a little bit of a look here at second with Jeff McNeil out, but it seems like he’d need to be much better offensively than Luisangel Acuña in order to deserve the starting gig at the beginning of the season. Of course, he has hit .379/.455/.655 in 33 plate appearances this spring.