The reeling New York Mets are sending right-handed starter Christian Scott and third baseman Brett Baty to Triple-A, sources told ESPN on Friday, further changing their roster a day after designating reliever Jorge Lopez for assignment following his ejection and subsequent glove-fling into the stands.
As Scott and Baty were sent to Triple-A, the Mets called up shortstop Jose Iglesias, sources said. The Mets also designated catcher Omar Narvaez for assignment and picked up catcher Luis Torrens in a trade with the New York Yankees, according to sources.
Scott had been something of a bright spot for the 23-33 Mets, who are 15½ games behind first-place Philadelphia in the National League East.
In five starts, the 24-year-old posted a 3.90 ERA and struck out 25 while walking six in 27⅔ innings. He is expected to return to the big leagues soon, as the stint in the minor leagues aligns with an upcoming stretch in which the Mets have extra days off due to their games in London and also helps keep Scott’s season-long innings total in check.
Baty, 24, was sent down for the second consecutive season after struggling to stand out given full-time reps at third. The Mets recently called up slugging prospect Mark Vientos, who has taken a share of Baty’s at-bats at third base and made the most of them, hitting .295/.354/.591 with three home runs in 14 games. On the season, Baty is hitting .225/.304/.325, and he was pinch hit for by Pete Alonso in Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks after going 0-for-1 with a walk and a groundout into a double play.
Iglesias is joining the Mets’ major league roster for the first time since signing a minor league contract with the team in December. Narvaez was hitting .
154 with five RBIs in 28 games, while Torrens has spent the season so far at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The victory over defending NL champion Arizona was at least some solace in the wake of a nightmare stretch for the Mets.
Wednesday morning, they placed struggling closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with a shoulder impingement.
During the game, Alonso was hit in the hand by a pitch, though later imaging showed no injury. Then came the Lopez incident that led to the Mets removing him from the roster.
