Mets' Brett Baty trying to earn Opening Day roster spot as a utility infielder
Former top prospect Brett Baty will be getting spring time at shortstop. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — When Brett Baty stood at shortstop and fielded a bunch of ground balls, throwing some to first and flipping others to second, taking turns with Francisco Lindor during team defensive drills, the most remarkable part was how unremarkable it was. He looked totally normal.
One Mets official characterized that fleeting portion of Baty’s Friday morning, which Baty said was his first time taking grounders there, as a spontaneous, nothing-deep, why-not exercise in athleticism, not part of a grand plan containing hints about the organization’s roster intentions.
It underscored, however, the position Baty occupies, both in his career and on the team this spring training.
The Mets, who already have lost Nick Madrigal to injury, need to find a utility infielder. Baty, a former top prospect who has won and lost the starting third-base job each of the past two years, is trying to become a utility infielder.
As the calendar flips to March, the season less than four weeks away, Baty has another prime opportunity to win a spot on the Opening Day club. He probably is the Mets’ best option.
“If they want me to (work at shortstop), then I will for sure,” said Baty, who is 6-for-11 with two home runs to begin Grapefruit League play. “I just kind of view it (this camp and season) as there’s nothing to lose, honestly. Wherever I may be doesn’t really matter. I’m just going to try to help the team win wherever I am, try to leave it all out there.”
The Mets signed Madrigal in late January to be a backup infielder. Adept at second and third, they figured he could handle shortstop, a position he hadn’t played regularly since college, just fine. Technically it was a camp competition, but he was the obvious favorite.
That plan went awry in the first inning of Madrigal’s first exhibition game, before he even took an at-bat. He fractured and dislocated his left shoulder when he fell fielding a ball behind the mound. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Madrigal, who was seeking second opinions, probably will have season-ending surgery.
And so the Mets have to more thoroughly consider other options, none of them as obvious. In addition to Baty, Mendoza mentioned Luisangel Acuna, Donovan Walton and Luis De Los Santos.
Walton is the most experienced of the bunch, but he historically hasn’t hit much. De Los Santos is younger but has a similar background and, like Walton, is not on the 40-man roster.
Acuna made a great impression with a late-season cameo in the majors in 2024, but he still is at such a stage of his prospect-hood that he would be best served playing every day in Triple-A — especially since he didn’t exactly dominate that level last year.
That leaves Baty, 25, entering a prove-it-or-else phase of his career. He said the message he received from Mendoza and David Stearns upon reporting to spring training was the same as last year.
“You’re going to have to come in here and fight for a job,” Baty recalled. “The way I view that now is, you don’t really compete against anyone but yourself. You can try to look around the room and see who is going to make the team, but at the end of the day, you’re trying to compete with yourself and be the best version of yourself. That’s what I’m trying to do right now.
“Last year, I didn’t view myself as coming in and having a job already. I just came in and was trying to go win a third-base job. Now I’m trying to win a utility job in a matter of fact.”
Baty’s natural position is third. He has been learning second for the past nine months. Shortstop is the biggest question, but it’s not clear how much that matters in the minds of Mets decision-makers. Mendoza referenced needing someone who can “finish a game in a blowout,” a reasonable assessment given that Lindor tends to play just about every inning. That can be Baty or even Jeff McNeil.
Baty has had hot Marches before. The Mets want to see more.
“He just needs to continue to do it, try to find that consistency,” Mendoza said. “Let it play out. It’s early.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
More New York Sports
