The New York Mets will make a series of roster moves Friday, including optioning rookie starting pitcher Christian Scott and third baseman Brett Baty and making a change at catcher, league sources confirmed.
Here is some insight into each of the decisions.
Scott to be optioned, reliever on the way
Scott impressed in five starts with a 3.90 ERA and 25 strikeouts while walking six in 27 2/3 innings.
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The expectation is Scott will return soon. The Mets are sending him down because they won’t need six starters with an upcoming stretch of days off ahead of their games in London. The move also may help control Scott’s workload; he threw 87 2/3 innings last year, his highest as a professional.
Scott was one of the few optionable pitchers on the staff; others such as David Peterson and Tylor Megill recently returned from stints on the injured list and have performed well enough to receive runs in the rotation. In the meantime, the Mets would like to see Scott work on his secondary pitches in Triple A — Scott has relied heavily on his fastball in recent starts.
It’s not surprising that the Mets would want to turn to an additional reliever by recalling Dedniel Núñez. Their bullpen has been taxed, and it was just Thursday when they designated Jorge López for assignment and called up lefty Danny Young. Lopez led the Mets in appearances (28).The Mets also have Edwin Díaz and Drew Smith on the 15-day injured list. Brooks Raley had surgery this week and is expected to miss the season.
Baty to be optioned, Iglesias heading up
The Mets decided to give Mark Vientos a run at third base. The Mets expect to see another batch of left-handed pitching, so the timing makes sense.
New York, which had been operating without a backup middle infielder while carrying both third basem*n, expects to add Jose Iglesias to the roster from Triple-A Syracuse, sources said.
Iglesias is best known for his defensive work up the middle, particularly at shortstop over 11 major-league seasons. Two weeks ago, Iglesias started at third base for the first time in 2024. He could be used late in games for defense at third. The Mets don’t have another day off until Thursday, and Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor have been playing every inning of every game for a while, including all outs of a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Mets went with Iglesias primarily for his defense, but he’s also another right-handed bat who can help with all the lefties they expect to see.
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Vientos made a difficult decision easier by supplying some offense. The Mets recalled him from Syracuse to do just that earlier in May while Baty struggled and their lineup, as a whole, lacked consistency. The roster construction featuring Baty and Vientos — both 24 years old — started as a platoon (Baty bats left-handed whereas Vientos bats from the right side) but Vientos also received starts against right-handed starting pitchers.
The Mets see Baty as someone who can be a quality major leaguer, and they hope a sojourn back to Triple A restores some confidence offensively. Club officials are thrilled with his progress defensively.
In 48 plate appearances, Vientos has a .945 OPS and three home runs. Since he was recalled on May 15, he is 10 for 37 (.270 batting average) with two home runs, four walks and 10 strikeouts.
Baty, the club’s Opening Day third baseman, has just a .628 OPS after 169 plate appearances. In May, he has struck out nearly 35 percent of the time.
Torrens arriving from Yankees for cash
The Mets moved on from Omar Narváez, who will be designated for assignment. He never got going offensively or defensively after the injury to Francisco Alvarez. Instead, Tomás Nido received the bulk of playing time, outperforming Narváez, who slashed just .154/.191/.185 and struggled to throw out runners or provide quality defense. (Narváez, 32, signed a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $15 million before the 2023 season.)
In Luis Torrens, the Mets see someone who has made major improvements to his pitch-framing skills. He is versatile; he can play left field and in the infield.
However, the Mets will have to decide between Torrens and Nido when Alvarez returns. Alvarez started his minor-league rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton on Thursday.
The Mets could have simply waited on Alvarez’s return and then dropped Narváez. However, the decision to go with Torrens demonstrates the front office’s desire to compete and upgrade the floor of the roster, even in the short term.
(Photo of Christian Scott: Donovan / NurPhoto via Associated Press)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
