Mets’ Lefties Go Yard Against Jameson Taillon

Mark Vientos was out of the Mets’ lineup for the second straight day on Friday.

Against a pitcher with a large arsenal in Jameson Taillon, Carlos Mendoza opted to get Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil in there while Vientos and Starling Marte stayed on the bench. Taillon has historically been successful against the Mets, with a 1.96 ERA in six starts against them entering Friday.

And, in the Mets’ 7-2 series-opening win over the Cubs Friday evening, the hitters made Mendoza’s decisions pay off. Baty and McNeil each homered for the Mets, who tacked four long balls against Taillon in a four-inning, 100-pitch outing for the veteran.

It was a well-rounded day at the plate for the team in general, with at least one hit from every spot in the order and 13 overall. Baty and McNeil, batting sixth and eighth, respectively, each homered in the third inning. They followed up Francisco Lindor‘s first-inning bomb — his fourth leadoff homer of the year — and preceded Juan Soto‘s eighth home run as a Met in the fourth inning.

For Baty, it was the second home run in the last three games he’s played. It might have seemed like a bit of a gamble from Mendoza, putting the struggling Baty in the six-hole, but he flung a sinker in the upper part of the zone out to left-center, 107.8 mph off the bat. He added a little flare for a single later on to record a 2-for-4 day. His season OPS now sits at .633 — over .100 points higher than where it was just four major league games prior for Baty.

It’s worth noting, though in a fairly small sample size, that Baty’s ground ball percentage and air percentage each sit at 50% (entering Friday). That would be Baty’s career-low ground ball rate and career-high air rate (fly balls, line drives, and popups). The air rate looks even better when taking a closer look, since his line drive rate sits at 26.3%, which would also be a career high.

That’s been Baty’s issue in the past — not hitting the ball in the air enough, rolling over balls instead of driving them. He got off to a rough start this season, but he’s starting to hit the ball with some more authority as of late.

With Vientos’ production slipping lately, and having still not put it together this year after a breakout season, the battle for playing time could become interesting. Some of it will depend on specific matchups, such as Mendoza preferring Baty against a crafty lefty like Taillon, but Vientos’ spot is becoming less guaranteed with every subpar day at the plate. Baty, though, still needs to prove himself over a large sample size.

McNeil, meanwhile, has quietly been very good since returning from injury. There was almost a mystery of what to expect from McNeil — he’s no longer the guy competing for batting titles, and he struggled last year before turning it on in the second half. But he launched a homer on Friday at 103.1 mph off the bat. Like Baty, it was the second bomb of the season for McNeil, as he just tries to get comfortable playing every day again.

Jeff McNeil raises the apple!! ????

Mendy wanted to get the lefties in the lineup tonight and it’s paying off????pic.twitter.com/L73GGij5op

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) May 9, 2025

It’s only 38 at-bats so far, but McNeil has a .500 slugging percentage from a .237 average, providing some nice pop at the bottom of the order from a hitter with a strong track record.

For Lindor and Soto, it was business as usual. Soto’s “slow start” now features him sitting at an .891 OPS for the season. Lindor had a three-hit day and is now hitting .297 with an .861 OPS from the leadoff spot. The Mets’ multifaceted attack gave them six runs in the first four innings on Friday’s game to put away the contest in commanding fashion. Lindor even gave another one a ride at 102.4 mph off the bat and 377 feet for an out.

This is the kind of offensive performance the Mets have been searching for on a more consistent basis, in order to complement their pristine starting pitching. Friday’s lineup on paper was full of question marks — Brandon Nimmo not quite hitting to the standards of a cleanup hitter, Baty batting sixth, the ups and downs of Francisco Alvarez, etc. But Mendoza is figuring out ways to mix and match these hitters to get the most out of them on a given night. And they’re led by their stars at the top.

Now it’s just a matter of how exactly the order while shake out as the Mets near the middle position of the season.

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