Mets rookie 3B Brett Baty set for thumb surgery

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Baty has a torn ligament in his right thumb that requires surgery and will likely sideline the New York Mets’ rookie third baseman for the rest of the regular season.

Baty was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday in a move announced about 45 minutes before New York’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had been subbing at third for Luis Guillorme, sidelined with a groin strain, and Eduardo Escobar, who returned Saturday from an oblique injury.

The team selected the contract of speedy outfielder Terrance Gore from Triple-A Syracuse, leaving the NL East leaders without a backup infielder for the middle game of a series between the top two teams in the National League.

New York can add more reinforcements Thursday, when major league rosters expand from 26 to 28 players.

A highly rated prospect, Baty was batting .184 with two homers and five RBIs in 11 games with the Mets during his first stint in the majors. With two third basemen injured, they called him up Aug. 17 after only six games at Syracuse following his promotion from Double-A Binghamton, and he homered in his first big league at-bat that night in Atlanta.

Baty, the 12th pick in the 2019 amateur draft, got hurt diving for a foul grounder last weekend. He had an MRI on Wednesday that showed a UCL tear in the thumb on his throwing hand, and is scheduled for surgery Thursday. He was put on the IL retroactive to Aug. 29.

The Mets said it typically takes five weeks to return from Baty’s injury, which means he probably won’t be healthy until the playoffs.

New York began the night with a three-game lead in the NL East over Atlanta. The switch-hitting Escobar started at third, batting eighth.

Hours before the game, Mets manager Buck Showalter said Baty planned to take some swings to see if he could play with the injury or not.

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