Mets general manager Billy Eppler is in Moosic, Pa. for Thursday evening’s game between the Syracuse Mets and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Eppler is not there specifically to watch top prospect Brett Baty and track his defensive improvements. He will see the entire Triple-A club, including starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi and prospects Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos. It will be a chance to observe many facets of the team.

But if Baty happens to field a few ground balls over the course of the game, the GM will be there to see how it looks.

At the end of spring training, the organization did not view Baty as ready to play defense at the MLB level, but were encouraged by his work ethic. He made reaction plays well, but was still working on his footwork, agility and range. It’s hard to imagine how that could change within a matter of months, but there are other factors at play.

The plan on Opening Day was for Eduardo Escobar to serve as the Mets’ third baseman this year, while Baty learned the position in the minors.

But Escobar’s underlying numbers in the early going have been even worse than his .348 OPS, while Baty is 9-for-27 with three home runs for Syracuse.

If Escobar does not begin making hard contact and Baty continues to hit, the Mets could soon be forced into the less-than-ideal position of developing a defender in the big leagues at an important defensive spot. The gap in offense might just become too vast to ignore.