Brett Baty Has Missed His Chance
Since being drafted, it was clear the New York Mets organization preferred Brett Baty over Mark Vientos as the third baseman of the future. There were very valid reasons for this, and the Mets organization was far from being alone in that opinion.
That opinion flipped last year. Baty struggled again. Vientos forced his way to the majors and then the starting lineup. He had 27 homers in just 111 games.
He followed that with a great postseason. He hit .327/.362/.636 with two doubles, five homers, and 14 RBI. By and large, it looked like Vientos was going to be the Mets next great power hitter.
Well, Vientos has always been a slow starter, and this year was no exception. Couple that with nagging injuries and a hamstring landing him on the IL, and the door was open for Baty to Wally Pipp him.
Baty had a strong spring, and he had a promising start to the year before an unfortunate demotion to Syracuse. That was a pure numbers game, but we’d see him called back up after the Jesse Winker injury.
In his first 15 games after the call up, Baty hit .326/.356/.698 with a double, five homers, and 13 RBI. He started to take over the third base job from Vientos. Again, with Vientos’ injury, Baty had a chance to claim the position for good.
Things haven’t quite worked out that way.
After that first 15 game stretch, Baty followed that with a 14 game stretch that saw him hit .170/.231/.277 with a triple, homer, and six RBI. Those numbers are worse when you consider that includes six games against the Colorado Rockies, who are making the 1962 Mets look like the 1927 Yankees.
We can argue those are just two different stretches – a hot streak and a cold steak. That’s a fair point. However, the broader picture isn’t promising for Baty.
On the season, Baty has a 97 wRC+. His career is a 77 wRC+. Even with that brutal error against the Dodgers, he’s been good defensively. However, to carry his bat, he needs to be Gold Glove caliber, and he’s certainly not that.
This isn’t to say he’s not a Major Leaguer. He is one. There’s a spot for his ability to play second and third and for him to hit against right-handed pitching. It seems his ceiling is the strong side platoon, and to reach his full potential, he will need to learn some outfield and possibly first base.
Complicating things for Baty is Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio was hitting .515 in Syracuse before he was recalled. After an initial 0-for-11, he’s red hot going five for his next eight with a double and homer. He also walked twice and stole two bases.
Notably, Mauricio was a shortstop in the minors, and the Mets still aren’t sure where he should play at the Major League level. At the moment, third base is the only open spot.
With Mauricio being a switch hitter, he doesn’t need a platoon partner. While he’s swinging a hot bat, he should be in the lineup.
With Jeff McNeil also swinging a hot bat, it looks like we will be seeing less and less of Baty. With the Mets getting good news on Vientos’ hamstring, it looks like Baty has missed his chance.
It’s now Mauricio’s turn. He has his own issues, but those can emerge and be discussed while we wait on Vientos.
We don’t know when Vientos will get healthy or get back to his 2024 form. What we can say is Baty hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunity and may never be the player we’d hope he’d be.