A prolonged slump and a hot bat should have the Mets resting one outfielder in favor of another.

Only four weeks left of baseball, the New York Mets remain in constant fluctuation with the starting lineup. Mark Vientos has routinely hit second and third for them in one of the latest masterful moves by Carlos Mendoza. It has worked out well with Vientos continuing to be one of the club’s most consistent hitters.

The same cannot be said for Harrison Bader who is 2 for his last 28. He is batting only .167/.235/.267 in the second half. Previously viewed far more favorably after such a good beginning with the Mets this season, his slumping bat is making him an afterthought in the lineup plans.

Bader has spent most of his season hitting ninth for the Mets and in such a role, we should be pleased with what he has accomplished. However, with the success of Jesse Winker and obvious center field alternative to starting Bader every day, it’s about time the Mets consider sitting him a little bit more. Let Winker go to left field and put Brandon Nimmo in center field to begin most games.

Harrison Bader is in a bad slump and the Mets have the easiest solution

Bader absolutely has a role on the Mets and it’s probably how they always intended to use him. Only because he did hit so well at times in the first half, even leading the team in batting average for a good chunk of time, was he able to stay in the starting lineup. The Mets also didn’t have a bat like Winker’s around to challenge for any playing time. At least whenever they face a right-handed starting pitcher, there is little reason to keep Bader in the starting lineup. Give Winker every hack he can get.

The Mets lineup hasn’t been quite as potent. Despite beating the Chicago White Sox in all three games over the weekend, they didn’t do it with a whole lot of offense. It’s not a big deal but with Francisco Alvarez giving them virtually nothing and Nimmo continually struggling as well (but drawing lots of walks), having Winker in the lineup as much as possible is necessary—as if it wasn’t already.

Mendoza has made good use of his position players with multiple changes throughout. It’s not unusual to see games end with the best defensive alignment possible. This probably would include Nimmo in left field, Bader in center field, and Tyrone Taylor in right field. Behind the plate, we even see Luis Torrens exit regularly in favor of Alvarez whenever Edwin Diaz enters. They even cleverly batted Taylor fifth on Sunday knowing Garrett Crochett wouldn’t last long and could replace him with Winker in the lineup.

Bader was signed to a lucrative $10.5 million contract in the offseason which seemed to suggest the Mets had no other plans but to play him regularly. For a period early on, they did sit him quite regularly in part to keep the oft-injured Gold Glove-caliber player in the lineup. Now, any time he sees from the bench will be for a different reason. He just isn’t hitting and one of the team’s hottest hitters, Winker, is.