brett baty was in the Mets’ Opening Day picture Thursday (ET) as the club went with the left-handed-hitting option at designated hitter while Mark Vientos was left out of the lineup against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The decision came with Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes scheduled to start, a matchup that immediately tested how the Mets intend to deploy Vientos early in the season. For Vientos, it was an early sign that the first week could be a squeeze for at-bats on a roster that has been reshaped around new infield choices.
Opening Day lineup choice: brett baty starts, Vientos sits
Vientos was not in the lineup for Thursday’s opener versus the Pirates (ET). With Skenes on the mound, the Mets started Jorge Polanco at first base and Brett Baty at designated hitter, leaving the right-handed-hitting Vientos on the outside looking in.
The alignment is notable because it places Polanco at first while using Brett Baty as the DH, directly affecting where Vientos can fit. The immediate consequence: against a right-handed starter like Skenes, Vientos did not draw the nod.
Why Mark Vientos is facing a tight first week
Vientos enters the 2026 season in what has been described as a “weird spot” with the Mets, coming off a year in which his production fell across the board and now staring at uncertain playing time on a reworked roster. The additions of Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco effectively removed competition at the infield corners, which is where Vientos has spent the entirety of his big-league career.
There is theoretical room at designated hitter, but the presence of brett baty means Vientos is likely to be pushed toward platoon duties. That dynamic becomes sharper at the beginning of the schedule, when the Mets may not see a left-handed starter until early April.
The first series is set against a Pirates rotation highlighted by Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller, and the Pirates’ projected starting five is described as exclusively right-handed. In that scenario, Vientos could be limited to late-game pinch-hitting chances rather than starting opportunities.
After Pittsburgh, the Mets travel from Queens to St. Louis, where back-end starters Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy are also right-handed. That could leave Vientos waiting until the sixth game of the season—when Opening Day starter Matthew Liberatore is scheduled to pitch again—to have a clearer path into Carlos Mendoza’s starting lineup.
Immediate reactions from Mets decision-makers and the matchup reality
The matchup math is straightforward early: right-handers are more common than left-handers, and the Mets’ opening slate leans heavily in that direction. Vientos can thrive in a role tailored to left-handed pitching—his career wRC+ against left-handers is 105—but that still implies he could sit for a majority of games when the opposing starters are right-handed.
Carlos Mendoza, the Mets’ manager, is positioned to juggle that reality day-to-day as the team opens with a run of right-handed pitching. Thursday’s Opening Day alignment (ET) was the first concrete example of how the club is balancing first base and designated hitter, with Polanco at first and Brett Baty taking the DH spot.
What’s next as the Mets move through the opening slate
The schedule will not always be this restrictive for Vientos, but the Mets’ early run of right-handed starters creates a real playing-time pinch right out of the gate. The next indicators will come as the Pirates series progresses (ET) and then as the Mets arrive in St. Louis, where additional right-handed starters could again limit Vientos to a bench role.
For now, brett baty remains central to how the Mets are filling the designated hitter spot, and that lineup choice will continue to shape when—and how often—Vientos can break into the starting nine in the season’s first week.
