PORT ST. LUCIE — Brett Baty might have spent the first three weeks of his offseason without a bat in his hand, but it was never far from his mind. After a rocky rookie season, the Mets‘ third baseman went to work to analyze his swing, trying to figure out how to optimize his swing for big-league success.
“I think the first probably three weeks in the offseason was just video,” Baty said Thursday after arriving at Clover Park ahead of his report date. “I didn’t touch a bat, I didn’t go to the cage, I didn’t do anything. I was really dissecting the video with everything, like posture, hands, feet, legs.”
It’s tough to struggle in New York and Baty found that out the hard way in 2023. After getting a brief look at what the big leagues were like in 2022, Baty, a top prospect a year ago, was finally called up in April. But he didn’t quite crush baseballs in the big leagues like he did in Triple-A.
Baty hit just .212 with a .598 OPS in 108 games last season.
The game sped up on him and he wasn’t always able to defend at a high enough level (-4 OAA). There were some embarrassing miscues and a late-season demotion.
Baty came to the ballpark every day ruminating on what he had done the night before, failing to realize that the pros around him had already forgotten about their previous performances. Instead, they were focusing on the next game.
“I was riding the roller coaster too much,” Baty said. “But last year is in the past.”
The Mets never lost confidence in Baty. They conveyed as much when they opted not to acquire a third baseman over the winter. President of baseball operations David Stearns gave Baty and his third base competitors, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, a vote of confidence during the winter meetings when he said the team’s Opening Day third baseman was already in the organization.
Even after Mauricio went down with a knee injury in December, the Mets stood pat. Baty is set to compete with his good friend Vientos this spring. They’re both ready to show the lessons they learned while working with Francisco Lindor in Orlando in the offseason and they’re both coming in more sure of themselves and their abilities.
Vientos says the competition is only with himself, but Baty welcomes the pressure. T
“I think competition makes everybody better,” Baty said.
Defensively, the left-handed hitter worked on footwork and fundamentals. Offensively, he worked with hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez remotely, then took that input and put it into practice with his coaches in Texas.
“My barrel, from the start of my swing, just kind of just lagged behind and I was late a lot,” Baty said. “That’s why I was hitting a lot of balls on the ground and like flaring balls to the left. I was hitting some hard balls to the opposite field, but I really wanted to focus on getting my barrel out front and being strong on top. I think that’s what we found.”
SPRING GAMES
The Mets added a basketball hoop to the Clover Park clubhouse, right above the entrance to the equipment room and the loading docks. It isn’t regulation size and the balls are considerably smaller than an NBA ball, but it’s been a popular fixture so far.
VISA TO AMEX
Right-hander Shintaro Fujinami was cleared to practice with the team Thursday after waiting on a visa earlier in the week.
