Brett Baty's strong spring training performance appears to have earned him the starting second base job while Jeff McNeil is on the IL.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — He did it again. He hit consistently, pummeling balls to all fields. He made plays defensively, too, occasionally some dazzling ones. For another spring training, Brett Baty looked capable of helping the New York Mets. Is this the year he breaks through?

Prior to the game at Daikin Park, Carlos Mendoza said he wouldn’t necessarily treat second base as a definitive platoon as the team waits for Jeff McNeil to return from a strained oblique.