Mets, Brett Baty tone down rhetoric while building up third baseman
Mets infielder Brett Baty during a spring training workout, Thursday Feb. 15, 2024 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Last year at this time, Brett Baty was a hot prospect, the Mets’ third baseman of the very near future. He had a great showing in spring training and by mid-April was in the majors as the starter at the hot corner. It went poorly.
This year, Baty’s potential is still there, but the hype has dwindled. He enters camp as the heavy favorite to remain the regular at third, with president of baseball operations David Stearns characterizing it as only “some level of competition.” He’s receiving another chance.
Next year . . . well, a player doesn’t usually get three cracks at these things. That makes 2024 a momentous season for Baty individually, and the Mets intend to give him every chance to prove he belongs.
“It might just be going out there and being consistent. I don’t think I need to go out there and show them anything extraordinary,” the 24-year-old Baty said Thursday, his first day at the Mets’ Clover Park complex. “We have a really good ballclub here and I think all the people in this clubhouse probably are going to contribute at some point during the year. I’m not trying to go out there and do anything extraordinary. I’m just going to go out there and be who I am. Be me.”
Indeed, the Mets don’t need Baty to be extraordinary. Ordinary or slightly more would represent major progress. If the top half-ish of their lineup includes Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez, a productive version of Baty would go a long way toward lengthening their offensive threat.
He batted .212 with a .275 OBP and .323 slugging percentage in 2023 — and actually was worse in September upon returning from a midsummer hiatus with Triple-A Syracuse.
“There were some times I hit balls really hard and did some really good things offensively,” he said. “And then there were some times I didn’t know what I was doing up there.”
With the benefit of an offseason of hindsight, he diagnosed the problem as “riding the roller coaster too much.” He let struggles in one area of his game infect the others, and before he knew it, it spiraled on him.
“It’s hard not to do that,” Baty said. “Just as a human being. When you’re struggling somewhere, you’re probably taking it to your home life or whatever you’re doing outside the field.
“I see all these [veteran players] . . . when they come in here the next day, the past day that they had — whether it was a failure or a success — they’re not even thinking about that. They’re just thinking about what they gotta do tonight. And I need to do a better job of that this year.”
The past few months served as a reset. He spent most of October dissecting video — examining his posture, hands, feet, legs — and staying in touch with hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes.
Their conclusion: Baty needed to strengthen the top (left) hand on his swing. That would allow him to better get the fat part of the bat in the right part of the strike zone at the right time.
“So I can get more balls in the air,” he said. “Feels good.”
He also visited Lindor for a few days last month, working out at Montverde Academy — Lindor’s old high school — outside Orlando. Lindor invited Mark Vientos and Baty at the end of last season (Vientos went twice).
“They both individually reached out. So that shows the maturity, the responsibility and the amount of work they want to put in to get better,” Lindor said. “This is a big year for them, because we all know what they can do. They know what they can do. Now they just gotta do it day in and day out.”
New manager Carlos Mendoza even popped over from the Tampa area to see Lindor and Baty. Baty said Mendoza told him “nothing but positive things” about him, the team and the organization.
They’re trying to get the vibes right at the start of an important year.
“He’s in a really good place mentally, physically,” Mendoza said. “There’s always that transition from the minor leagues adjusting to the big leagues. And he struggled. It’s not a secret. It’s not easy, especially when you have high expectations as a prospect and all that.
“At the end of the day, this is a talented kid. What I keep telling him and telling the coaches is be yourself. Go out there and be yourself. Have fun and play your game.”
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.
