PORT ST. LUCIE — Per week into Grapefruit League play, Brett Baty is making it laborious for the Mets not to concentrate to him.
The previous third base prospect, who has been up and down between the minors and the massive leagues over the past two seasons, is 6-for-11 with two dwelling runs and a double by way of his first 4 spring video games. It’s a small pattern dimension, however now the Mets are seeing some encouraging tendencies, particularly in relation to lifting the ball.
“He’s hitting the ball hard, he’s staying behind the baseball, he’s getting his pitches and he’s not missing them,” stated supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “And he’s using the whole field. We’ve seen him staying up [the] middle, he pulled it today, we’ve seen him go the other way again. I think the rhythm is there, and the timing. Doing a lot of good things … he’s feeling good.”
Nonetheless, Baty, now 25, did a variety of good issues on the plate final spring and the spring earlier than that when he posted an .885 OPS in 50 plate appearances. He got here into spring coaching in 2024 able to hit the ball within the air extra usually, and but it nonetheless ended up on the bottom usually after the beginning of the common season.
Baty misplaced his spot to Mark Vientos and the Mets despatched him again to Triple-A final June to work on a possible place change to a utility position. He performed third base and second final yr for Triple-A Syracuse, and took reps in left discipline in 2023. Over the winter, he put a heavy emphasis on infield fundamentals, working with infield coach Jacob Madrid in Dripping Springs, Texas, outdoors of Austin, at first, second and third bases.
The Mets are contemplating Baty for a utility infield position, even though he’s by no means performed shortstop. The Mets have been planning on utilizing Nick Madrigal in that position as considerably of a stop-gap measure earlier than he broke his left shoulder final weekend in his first Grapefruit League look. Madrigal would have allowed Luisangel Acuña to get extra at-bats in Triple-A and Baty to get time within the minors enjoying second, and probably shortstop.
Nonetheless, even earlier than Madrigal’s damage, Mendoza and David Stearns let Baty know the door was open for him to win a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“They said the same thing as last year. They said, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to win a job. You’re going to have to come in here and fight for a job,’” Baty stated. “The way I kind of view that now is, you can’t really compete against anyone but yourself. You can try to look around the room and see who is going to make the team and stuff, but at the end of the day, you’re just trying to be the best version of yourself.
“That’s what I’m trying to do right now.”
What the very best model of Baty seems like as a utility infielder isn’t but identified. The Mets don’t suppose he’s reached his potential, however additionally they haven’t given up on him. Different groups have expressed curiosity in probably buying and selling for the 6-2 Texan, however the crew that drafted him continues to be intrigued by what he might grow to be.
Baty feels comfy with the footwork at second base and now has a second base glove, which is able to make it simpler for transfers and flips on double performs. There are not any plans for him to play shortstop in Grapefruit League video games proper now, however that would change. Mets are completely happy together with his progress and are having him do further work with infield coach Mike Sarbaugh earlier than Grapefruit League video games.
“I feel really good and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on it,” Baty stated.
Final yr, the Mets briefly carried Baty as an emergency utility infielder. It was poor roster building and in the end, not a sustainable answer given Baty’s defensive limitations on the time. The Mets have been pressured to play Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor for all 9 innings of each recreation with out days off.
The experiment didn’t final lengthy, with the Mets realizing Baty wanted to play each day anyway, they usually known as up Jose Iglesias to take his spot on the roster, altering the course of the season.
Nonetheless, if Baty continues to hit like this, the Mets might carry him as a utility infielder and transfer McNeil from second base to shortstop late in video games. Mendoza has not but checked with McNeil about whether or not the infielder/outfielder can be prepared to slip over to shortstop every so often, however he’s pretty sure it wouldn’t be an issue.
If Baty’s bat is lastly large league prepared, he might be a weapon off the bench. He might additionally put the Mets in a bind with no backup shortstop. It’s a troublesome determination, nevertheless it’s one the Mets must make for an additional few weeks.
“It starts with controlling the strike zone [and] not missing his pitches,” Mendoza stated. “He’s had some good results in the past, but as long as he’s doing the things that he can control, he’s going to be in a good place. He just needs to do it consistently.”
