The Mets have decided it will be DH Jared Young who is optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the active roster for third baseman Mark Vientos to come off the IL on Friday, SNY's Andy Martino reported.
The move means both Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty are staying with the big-league club for the series-opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Young heads back to Syracuse after 17 games with the Mets. He tallied seven hits in 41 at-bats (.171) with three home runs and for four RBI with a .642 OPS.
Vientos, who had been sidelined since the beginning of the month with a hamstring strain, had been off to a slow start at the plate, but should provide a boost to the lineup. And with Mauricio and Baty remaining on the roster, Vientos can see more time at DH as he eases his way back into the swing of things.
Vientos had four hits (two doubles) during the six games of his injury rehab at Triple-A. He was batting .230 with a .678 OPS over 53 games before landing on the IL.
"Mark is a big part of our team," Carlos Mendozasaid on Thursday. "We saw it in the playoffs last year, he drives the ball to all fields, gives you good at-bats, and the power is real — if we get him going, we’re talking about a deep lineup one through nine. He’s a guy who can hit anywhere in the lineup, so it just adds to the quality of our roster."
Mauricio, who was seen as the most likely candidate to get sent down, notched four hits in his last two games, including a solo homer on Wednesday night. His average is .226 with a .676 OPS after 18 games and 62 at-bats.
"I’ve been impressed with how he’s handled the adversity," Mendoza said ahead of Thursday's game. "I haven’t been around him much because he spent all of last year rehabbing and this year…. Watching him after missing so much time and struggling, he’s being the same guy, continues to work and asks for feedback for help — it was finally good to see a really good game from him last night, we hope to see that same version moving forward."
Baty is off to the best start of the bunch who was under consideration to go down, with eight home runs and 27 RBI and a .225/.276/.401 slash line for a .677 OPS through 60 games of the year.
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