MIAMI -- Brett Baty’s regular season, which pointed upward throughout the second half, came to an abrupt end on Saturday when the Mets placed him on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain.
A day after injuring his oblique during Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Marlins, Baty tested it in the batting cage but felt continued discomfort. That left the Mets little choice but to place him on the IL and call up Jared Young to replace him. Ronny Mauricio started in place of Baty at third base.
“It hurts a lot,” Baty said of his emotions. “But I’m going to root on my teammates, and we’re going to try to go to the postseason.”
The IL assignment takes Baty out of contention not just for the final two games of the regular season, but also any potential National League Wild Card Series and Division Series games. The earliest Baty would be eligible to return is the NL Championship Series, if the Mets make it that far.
The Mets will know more about Baty’s chances of playing in October once he undergoes an MRI in the coming days.
“I’ve never had one of these injuries, so I don’t really know,” Baty said. “It’s kind of my first time going through it. I’m just going to take it day-by-day, and however long we make it, I’m going to try to play as soon as I’m ready.”
The injury occurred in the first inning Friday, when Baty swung through a fastball from Sandy Alcantara. Although adrenaline took away much of the pain as he swung twice more during that at-bat, he experienced discomfort again -- worse this time -- while throwing out Liam Hicks on a ground ball in the bottom of the inning. He did not return to the field for the second.
Since a slow start to the season, Baty had developed into one of the Mets’ best hitters, with a .311/.372/.500 slash line since Aug. 2. His season OPS stands at .748. On Thursday night in Chicago, he hit a three-run homer that proved to be the difference in the game.
“We’re looking at a guy that pretty much established himself in the everyday lineup, whether it was at third base, second base, and then what he was able to provide for us defensively, offensively,” Mendoza said. “It’s a big blow, but we’ve got other guys that are going to get opportunities, and they’re going to have to step up.”
For as long as Baty is sidelined, Mauricio, Mark Vientos and Luisangel Acuña will all be candidates to replace him. Mauricio, who drew the start on Saturday, entered the day with just eight September plate appearances and no starting assignments since Aug. 24. As the only lefty swinger of the bunch, he figures to receive the first chance against most right-handed pitchers -- especially with the Mets seemingly reluctant to use Vientos at third.
“You’ve got to give him credit, because he’s working really hard,” Mendoza said of Mauricio. “One of the conversations I had with him a couple of weeks ago was like, ‘Hey man, you never know, it could happen fast.’ And here he is. … He’s getting a start. He’ll be ready to go.”