May 4, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos (27) tracks the ball in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

Insider cites 'concern' as reason Mets should make position change

Originally posted on New York Mets on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated May 28, 2025 6:00 PM ET

Perhaps the biggest positive surprise of the New York Mets' 2025 season is how great Brett Baty has been playing, especially over the past several weeks.

After Baty struggled during his time in the big leagues from 2022-2024, a lot of the hype he had when making his ascent to the majors evaporated. However, his 2025 MLB OPS is up to .747 after the team's May 28 game against the Chicago White Sox, and that's after starting the season slowly. Not to mention that he's playing the best defense of his life at third base.

"BATY! BEAUTY!"

What a play for the final out of the inning by Brett Baty pic.twitter.com/IoICzEtZiU
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 28, 2025

And another surprise for the Mets — one that's much less positive — is how Mark Vientos has performed after a breakout 2024 campaign. He currently has a .690 OPS and has been one of the worst defensive third basemen in the entire MLB, according to his advanced stats.

This was the basis of New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman conveying that he believes it's time for the Mets to make a switch at third base, which he conveyed in a May 28 episode of The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman.

"At this point, Baty has played so well that I'm of a mind that I would just put him at third base," Heyman said. "It's a little weird to think that Vientos could lose his job 1/3 of the way into his season after he was a hero in October and was great throughout last year.

"But I'm of a mind that the defense [of Vientos] is a concern," Heyman continued. "Baty has been really good defensively. We know that Vientos, at this stage of his career, is a little below average defensively. So I would say that Vientos, I would still play him as the DH for the most part. But that's what I would do there."