It took Brett Baty one game to prove Carlos Mendoza right

It had been a struggle for the New York Mets lately, especially offensively. They entered Wednesday's matchup against the Boston Red Sox, losers of three in a row and having scored a total of 10 runs in their last seven games. With that, manager Carlos Mendoza made some lineup changes, hoping to provide a spark. The Mets wound up winning 5-1, and one change he made involving Brett Baty proved to be a stroke of genius.

The Mets made several head-scratching decisions in this new-look lineup, like bumping Juan Soto to the No. 3 spot in the order and benching their hottest hitter, Jeff McNeil. Playing Baty against Garrett Crochet looked like another strange decision on paper. Soto didn't have a great day, but as it turns out, the Mets won this game thanks in large part to Baty's contributions.

Baty went 2-for-4 with three RBI and had a pair of run-scoring hits. The Mets have struggled all year with runners in scoring position, but Baty came through in huge spots twice, and he did so against tough left-handers both times. This good night proves that he should be receiving mostly regular playing time for now.

Brett Baty is proving he should be playing regularly

Baty coming through against left-handers was shocking, mainly because he hadn't gotten an opportunity to play against southpaws. He hadn't received a single start against a left-handed pitcher this season, and was just 0-for-7 against them on the year. He had hit just .164 with a .452 OPS against left-handers in his career entering the day. This was the best he's looked against lefties all year.

It's never good to overreact to one game, but the quality of pitchers Baty was facing also can't be ignored. Not only is Crochet incredibly tough against lefties, but so is Brennan Bernardino, whom Baty drilled the go-ahead hit against.

Baty has had numerous chances to prove himself at the MLB level, but he has yet to do so. His at-bats have looked better since his recall a couple of weeks ago, though, and his defense has been consistently solid really since the start of last season.

With Jesse Winker sidelined, the Mets have the wiggle room to use Mark Vientos as the DH more often than not, with Baty manning the hot corner. They've been doing that fairly often against right-handed pitching, but after another hitless day from Marte, it feels as if the Mets should give Baty consistent run.

If he performs, that'd be excellent. If he doesn't, it's not as if Marte has done much anyway, and they'd at least be better defensively. Hopefully, this impressive multi-hit performance can lead to Baty showing more flashes of the former top prospect he was not too long ago.