Mets' Buck Showalter on Brett Baty's hot start: It's what he's supposed to do
Mets infielder Brett Baty before a spring training game against the Marlins on March 1 at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Brett Baty hype train is barreling at full speed around the International League, but manager Buck Showalter isn’t about to start driving.
Showalter dodged a question Saturday about the third-base prospect’s hot start with Triple-A Syracuse, and in response to a follow-up, he said: “It’s what he’s supposed to do.”
Then he quickly changed the subject.
“All of ’em are. That’s a good team down here,” Showalter said. “I would challenge somebody to find a more prospect-laden Triple-A club than ours.”
Following up on his strong spring training showing, Baty is hitting .400 with a 1.386 OPS, five homers and 15 RBIs in nine games. He has gone deep three times in his past four games, showing no ill effects from the right thumb inflammation that briefly sidelined him.
The Mets’ starting third baseman, meanwhile, was on the bench Saturday for the third time in 15 games. Showalter said he sat Eduardo Escobar because “I’m trying to give everybody a day” off and he wanted to play Luis Guillorme for a second game in a row. Escobar is 5-for-44 (.114) with a .167 OBP and .227 slugging percentage.
Personnel news
Two-plus weeks into the season, the Mets got their first real dose of roster churn Saturday with a set of four roster moves.
Righty Stephen Nogosek landed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow bone bruise, the result of absorbing a 104-mph line drive from Oakland’s Jace Peterson on Friday. Showalter was confident that Nogosek avoided a worse fate.
Nogosek said he was sore but glad his elbow wasn’t broken.
“He got lucky. Really lucky,” Showalter said. “I got out on the mound and the seams were right on his elbow. I think we may have dodged one there, though he didn’t.”
Without Nogosek, who tossed 6 1⁄2 innings in three appearances and had been the closest thing the Mets had to a long-relief option, the Mets called up righties Jose Butto and Jimmy Yacabonis from Triple-A.
Butto will start Sunday against the Athletics in place of Max Scherzer (back soreness). Yacabonis is a reliever with experience in parts of five major-league seasons, including 2017-18 with Showalter’s Orioles. He had made four scoreless appearances with Syracuse.
The Mets also designated Dennis Santana for assignment. He had a 7.04 ERA in a team-high-tying seven relief appearances.
Extra bases
Justin Verlander’s bullpen session Saturday, his first since he strained his right teres major muscle last month, went well, according to Showalter. Up next: another bullpen session in a few days . . . Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his third start at catcher since being called up. Showalter said he was considering playing him for a second straight game Sunday, which would be a first for Alvarez . . . In the Mets’ home run race, Pete Alonso (seven) is tied with the entire rest of the team (seven combined).
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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.
