The New York Mets have played better in the second half, but this year has been a huge disappointment given their expectations heading in.
A lot of their struggles stemmed from not getting much from shortstop Francisco Lindor in the first half, as he struggled in the 40 games he played and missed most of it with a left calf strain.
He has looked much more like himself since the All-Star break, posting a .230 batting average, .314 on-base percentage, .767 OPS, 15 home runs and 36 RBIs over 62 games, but it has not been enough to will New York back into playoff contention. They entered Saturday owning a 73-87 record.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Mets made a surprising move before first pitch, inserting Brett Baty into Lindor’s usual spot at shortstop. It marked the first-ever start at the position for Baty in his entire career.
In doing so, the Mets decided to put Lindor at designated hitter to keep his bat in the lineup.
Manager Andy Green announced the reasoning behind the swap during pregame. He revealed that not only does this give the Mets an opportunity to see if Baty can handle a different role next year, potentially giving Lindor days off up the middle, but it also gives Lindor a day off his feet in general.
Lindor will likely return to the lineup Sunday in the Mets’ final game of the season against the Washington Nationals.
This offseason represents some uncertainty for Lindor as the organization could deal him away if they want to completely reshape the roster, but that certainly does not appear to be the plan given Baty is getting a look at shortstop.
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