LOS ANGELES — Down 0-2 in the count, Brett Baty watched a curveball travel below the strike zone. He fouled off the next pitch, another low curveball. Dodgers right-hander Dustin May tried to get Baty to swing through the breaking ball. It didn’t work. So on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, May threw a fastball. Baty lined it to right field for a two-out, RBI-single in a small example of progress.
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You see, when the Mets first promoted Baty last August, he noticed how pitchers attacked him with hard stuff inside and breaking balls low. He accumulated just 42 MLB plate appearances last season, but wanted to learn from the experience. Some of what he encountered last year will surely prepare him for what he will see this time around.
The Mets recalled Baty on Monday because his play with Triple-A Syracuse merited a promotion. Baty demolished minor-league pitching, going 14-for-35 with five home runs. Meanwhile, New York’s lineup has lacked power. The Mets front office focused more on pitching upgrades than lineup supplementation during the offseason in part because they had Baty and other prospects as options. With third baseman Eduardo Escobar’s results and underlying data trending downward, Triple A no longer seemed like the best place for someone like Baty.
Thus, Baty has unseated Escobar at third base, relegating the switch-hitting veteran to a bench role. The left-handed batting Baty will start against right-handers and he’ll see some lefties, too, manager Buck Showalter said. So far, so good. In the Mets’ 8-6 win over the Dodgers on Monday, Baty went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and strikeout in his season debut.
Brett Baty collects his first RBI since returning to the Mets! pic.twitter.com/HZwyV3GEph
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Many evaluators agree that Baty possesses a special blend of offensive talent. As Mets hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said, “He’s always had the tools.” With Baty, what bears watching from here goes deeper. Major-league pitchers will force Baty to make adjustments. He will be challenged daily with understanding what he does well, what pitchers do better and how he can win the games within the games. The Mets cleared the runway for Baty because his combination of ability and maturity convinced officials he could do this.
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“He’s coming into his own,” Barnes said. “He’s becoming a professional.”
When the Mets first promoted Baty last August in the heat of a pennant race, he impressed club personnel with his demeanor and work habits. They liked how he prepared for opponents and how he tried to learn from at-bats. For many young players, reaching a point of comfort in dissecting the whys and hows behind a result takes longer. No one suggests Baty holds a firm grip on this skill. An ability to consistently slow the game down requires experience. But Baty’s initial attempts, even dating back to late last summer, are promising.
“Sometimes you come up here and the games move so fast that it’s hard to process that and make it into a learning point,” Barnes said. “I thought he did a fantastic job of doing that.”
With Baty batting eighth on Monday, the Mets’ lineup appeared deeper. It helped that designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit his first home run of the season, and that the Mets racked up 13 hits against the Dodgers, a team that owns the lowest walk rate in baseball. So far this season, the Mets have reached base at a good rate, but the lineup has lacked consistent power beyond Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.
The Mets opted to start Baty in Triple A partly because they wanted him to continue to work on his defense. At third base, Escobar provided the Mets with steadiness. But things reached a point where the potential offensive improvement seemed to outweigh any defensive benefit. Also, Baty inspired confidence in Mets officials toward the end of spring training that he could play third base at the major-league level. In the sixth inning on Monday, he made a nice stop on a deep grounder behind third base that required a long, accurate throw for an out.
Brett Baty with the deep throw from third pic.twitter.com/1bU273zwLU
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 18, 2023
“He’s really worked hard at it,” Showalter said. “Whatever Brett’s level is going to be defensively, he’s going to reach it. You don’t have to worry about that. He’s going to work hard enough to be as good as he’s capable of being.”
Baty learned the Mets planned to promote him early Sunday, when Syracuse manager Dick Scott informed him. Baty hopped on a flight to Los Angeles. The Mets then beat the Athletics. By Monday, they made things official, with outfielder Tim Locastro — who played on Sunday — moving to the injured list in a corresponding move (back spasms).
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Baty said that a possible promotion never dominated his thoughts. He wasn’t focused on it. Yes, even as he continuously pummeled Triple-A pitching. And, yes, even if everyone else seemed to be. Regardless, it’s his time now.
“I think this time it’s going to be a lot different just because I know exactly what to expect now,” Baty said. “I got a little taste last year. There’s a little bit more comfort to it.”
(Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
