Mets' Brett Baty getting a second look at second base
The Mets' Brett Baty rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during a spring training game against the Houston Astros in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 25n Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
HOUSTON — In the Mets’ brewing second-base competition, otherwise known as the audition to be understudy for the injured Jeff McNeil, it all comes down to location, location, location.
Not so much position-wise, although you’d have to say Brett Baty, originally a third baseman, remains very much in his experimental phase on that side of the infield. We’re talking about where the games are being played.
Because as soon as Baty leaves the Mets’ Grapefruit League facility at Clover Park, or strays from Triple-A Syracuse, trouble usually follows for the club’s former first-round draft pick. And his primary rival for the second-base gig, Luisangel Acuna? The opposite seems to be true. The brighter the lights, the bigger the stage, the better for Acuna.
That’s the conventional wisdom, anyway, based on Baty’s repeated failings in Flushing and Acuna’s dazzling debut as Francisco Lindor’s emergency replacement last September. But the narrative doesn’t have to stick forever, and Baty is the one with the most to prove, a process that rekindled anew Friday night, when he drew the start against Astros righthander Hunter Brown at Daikin Park.
Baty didn’t do much to build on his plate momentum from Port St. Lucie, where he batted .353 with six doubles, four homers and an MLB-leading 1.186 OPS over 20 Grapefruit League games. His Friday debut was fairly uneventful: a pop-up to third, one K and a successful double-play turn in the fifth, thanks to a sprawling save by a stretched-out Pete Alonso.
Even with the current second-base platoon, Acuna later demonstrated Friday why it’s probably a smart idea to use him as a late-inning defensive replacement if he doesn’t win the job outright. After Acuna pinch-hit for Baty and whiffed in the seventh, he made a diving play to rob Yordan Alvarez of a single in the eighth, defusing an Astros’ rally. No shot Baty comes up with that ball.
Say what you want about exhibition numbers. But Baty generating some positive attention is certainly preferable to the alternative, and the confidence boost can’t hurt, either. Consider also that Baty raked while still getting a grip on the relatively new position, which he apparently handled well enough to convince the Mets to give him an extended shot there. Taking that into account, I asked Baty before Friday night’s game if that Grapefruit League bounce can serve as a springboard for the real thing now.
“For sure, I think it does,” Baty said. “But I think it also tells me that I’m in a good spot to start the season. And then however these next couple of games go, then it’s like a cat-and-mouse game. What are you doing well? What are doing that you could work on? Stuff like that. It’s definitely nice to do that in the spring. But now everybody’s starting at zero, and these games really matter.”
That’s been the tricky part for Baty, a career .283 hitter in the minors with an .889 OPS that plummets to .215 and .607, respectively, in the majors. Like we’ve mentioned, it doesn’t have to be an incurable condition — Baty still is just 25, and some prospects take longer to develop (Vientos, by comparison, is only a month younger).
Trying out at second base, however, is definitely upping the degree of difficulty for a 6-3 corner infielder without the quickest of feet. Baty was sufficient during camp, but that’s baseball at a lower gear. He only has 27 minor-league games under his belt at the position and there’s no training wheels now. Knowing what Baty’s up against, and seeing the player’s crisis of confidence up close a year ago, manager Carlos Mendoza’s message to him was simple.
“Be yourself,” Mendoza said Friday afternoon. “Same thing you’re doing [in Florida], whenever we get to the regular season, just continue to be yourself. Play your game. Don’t feel like you have to get four hits to be in the lineup the next day. Let us make those decisions. Just control what you can control. Trust the work.”
As for Acuna, he doesn’t seem to need any ego stroking, but he’s hardly a finished product, either. Already a slick, athletic middle infielder, Acuna obviously is a more reassuring choice for second base. It’s just that his spring-training numbers didn’t pop like Baty’s production, and the Mets really need the lefty bat to help balance the lineup in McNeil’s absence.
On Thursday, Acuna opened to mixed reviews. Getting the start against Astros lefty ace Framber Valdez, he struggled like the rest of the Mets, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout before an epic 12-pitch walk he worked against closer Josh Hader to help fuel a ninth-inning rally before it ultimately fizzled out. Acuna fouled off six two-strike pitches to stay alive, a testament to his confidence as much as anything else.
“When I got to the plate, the first thing I said to myself was, he can’t be capable of beating me,” Acuna said Friday through an interpreter. “So I got to beat him in this at-bat ... In a situation like that, I just have to continue to battle.”
While that 12-pitch showdown provided a glimpse into Acuna’s potential, his costly glitch earlier in the second inning should serve as a heads-up to Baty about the hazards of their contested position. Acuna’s wild pivot throw to first base on what should have been an inning-ending double play cost the Mets a run and left the door open for another in a game they lost, 3-1.
“It’s my fault because I broke to second a little bit late,” Acuna said. “So I was just trying to make up for it and the ball got away. My feet weren’t necessarily planted.”
For Baty, his feet are back in the majors again, only standing on unfamiliar dirt. Maybe now he’s finally ready to stick there.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
