Eduardo Escobar eager to mentor Brett Baty and Mark Vientos

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A fleeting form of the future hit Mets camp this week.

Eduardo Escobar, the incumbent third baseman expected to remain the starter there into the regular season, left spring training to join Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic. That opens his position — for the next bunch of exhibition games, at least — for his aspiring replacements: Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.

With that pair nearly majors-ready, both having debuted late last season, this camp is a big one. They don’t have an obvious or likely path to the Opening Day roster. But they figure to be factors at some point this season and are trying to prove to Mets decision-makers that they are ready to contribute when called upon. Think of all the action they’ll get with Escobar absent as part of their audition.

Escobar, a veteran of 12 seasons in the majors, has been doing what he can to help. He has taken to mentoring Baty and Vientos during spring training in a selfless act that he sees as part of his legacy.

“Whatever I can help for these two people, I would do. Not simply for them. For everybody. I be nice to everybody here because love is what I feel in my heart,” Escobar said recently. “I’m a humble guy. I’m working with them, teaching them, whatever they need. I’ll be here for anything. Because at the end of the day, they’re next.”

Escobar’s most frequent advice revolves around work ethic. He referenced breaking into the majors with the White Sox in 2011-12, when veteran players on those teams — Orlando Hudson, Juan Pierre, Alex Rios — instilled in him a similar lesson. Now it is his turn.

“I told Baty, I told Vientos, come in early. Work,” he said. “Show to all people in the organization that you’re the big future here . . . Come in here (early) and everyone will be supportive of you. You know why? Because you respect the game.”

Vientos started at third in a 5-5 exhibition tie Tuesday night with the Astros. Baty subbed in for the final four innings and made a pair of pretty plays, including a smooth backhanded stop and long throw across the diamond to record an out.

“You can’t have any off days. That’s one of the main things that stuck with me,” Vientos said. “This game is so hard that if you take off one day, that’s when the results are going to show and the game is going to bite you in the butt.”

Baty said: “His consistency is what I’m trying to emulate. He comes in every day and he’s the same person every single day and he goes about his business the same way. I’m trying to emulate that. That’s what everyone says: The more you can be the same day in and day out, the better you’re going to be.”

Baty and Vientos, both 23, are bat-first players. Baty is considered the better overall prospect — ranked 21st overall by MLB Pipeline, for example — but is trying to shore up his defense. The Mets likewise know Vientos can hit for plenty of power, as evidenced by his 24 homers in 101 games in Triple-A last year, but are closely watching other areas of his game, including defense and baserunning. Vientos is likely to get time at first base, too, with Pete Alonso off to play for the United States.

When the Mets signed Escobar to play third before last season, they knew this was coming. They made that commitment — two years, $20 million — knowing that he was regarded around baseball as a high-character clubhouse presence who could be an asset in nurturing the organization’s younger players (as well as knowing that his defensive versatility would make him useful if he got bumped off third base).

“He’s a guy that people like to talk to when they have an issue, because you know he’s going to be sincere,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Early on in spring last year, I had heard good things about him. But you always have your antennas up, like, no way this is real. You go, c’mon. And after a while I said, it is (real).”

Escobar admitted to one other dynamic in play: He thinks of his sons, including his oldest, 14-year-old Raul Escobar, who the proud papa says is a heck of a hitter for his age. If Raul one day makes his way in professional baseball, Escobar hopes established players — maybe some of whom remember how kind he was — do for Raul what he has done for Baty, Vientos and anyone else.

“He can hit. Whew, he can hit. One day you’ll learn about him,” Escobar said. “When I retire, maybe Baty or Vientos take care of my son. You never know. Maybe they mentor him one day.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.