The Mets optioned Baty to Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.
Baty more than held his own before the demotion with a .325/.460/.425 slash with a home run and two steals over 50 plate appearances. One of the top hitting prospects in the Mets' system, Baty will head to Triple-A to begin the season, but he has a real chance to help New York and fantasy players before 2023 comes to a close.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Still in third base mix
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Baty has played well enough this spring at third base to give the Mets a tough decision to make between him and incumbent starter Eduardo Escobar, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.
Baty's thumped the ball all spring, batting .325 (13-for-40) with a home run and two stolen bases, but the 23-year-old has struck out 14 times in 50 plate appearances, a sign he could potentially use more time at Triple-A. Escobar, on the other hand, hasn't been able to get going at the plate at all and is hitting just .133 (4-for-30) with one extra-base hit, a double. The veteran Escobar remains the likely Opening Day starter at the hot corner, but a slow start could prompt the Mets to make a quick switch and give Baty a chance to take the job, as there's little margin for error in what should be an ultra-competitive NL East.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Glove looking good
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Baty made a couple nice defensive plays in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros, Fiifi Frimpong of The New York Daily News reports.
The 23-year-old's defense at third base was a concern coming into camp, but Baty is putting in the work to convince the Mets he can handle a starting assignment. He's also been swinging a hot bat through the early part of the Grapefruit League schedule, going 9-for-19 with a double and a homer, and Baty still has a realistic shot at unseating Eduardo Escobar at the hot corner as soon as Opening Day.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Defensive issues a concern
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Baty committed his second error of the spring in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.
The 23-year-old came into camp with a real chance to win the starting third base job over veteran Eduardo Escobar, but erratic defense would likely give Baty a quick ticket back to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season. His bat appears to be big-league ready after he slashed .315/.410/.533 through 95 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year with 19 homers.
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Mets' Brett Baty: States case for 3B job with HR
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Baty went 2-for-2 with a walk and a two-run home run in Saturday's Grapefruit League contest against the Astros.
The Mets' top prospect has a legitimate chance to be the Opening Day third baseman with a strong camp, per MLB Pipeline. Eduardo Escobar offers a nice veteran fallback option for New York if Baty needs more seasoning at Triple-A, but the 23-year-old prospect is off to an excellent start to spring training.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Likely to start season in minors
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Baty (thumb) is likely to begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse, Deesha Thosar of FOXSports.com reports.
The Mets' third-base job opened back up when their deal with Carlos Correa fell through, but they're expected to turn back to Eduardo Escobar rather than hand the hot corner over to Baty. Escobar is slated to play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, so Baty will have plenty of opportunities in camp to change the Mets' minds. The top prospect mostly struggled when pressed into duty with the big club last season, but Baty is likely the future at third base. Ideally, the Mets would probably like him to seize the job against righties at some point in 2023.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Suffers torn UCL in thumb
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Baty will undergo surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right thumb Thursday and was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 29.
The 22-year-old sat out the past couple days after suffering the injury against the Rockies over the weekend, and he may now be sidelined for the rest of the regular season. A standard recovery timeline for this type of procedure is about five weeks, so if all goes well in his recovery, Baty could be ready for game action early in the playoffs.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Not starting Wednesday
Rotowire
Baty (thumb) isn't in the lineup Wednesday against the Dodgers.
Baty was unavailable for Tuesday's 4-3 loss due to a right thumb injury, and he'll remain out of the lineup a day later. According to Tim Britton of The Athletic, Baty received some imaging for his thumb, and while the Mets are satisfied enough with his ability to play defense or pinch run, it's yet clear if he can comfortably swing a bat. Eduardo Escobar will start at the hot corner and bat eighth in Baty's stead Wednesday.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Managing thumb issue
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Baty was unavailable during Tuesday's loss to the Dodgers due to a thumb injury, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
The 22-year-old suffered the injury over the weekend against the Rockies and was held out of the lineup Tuesday, and he apparently wasn't available as a pinch hitter. Baty should be considered day-to-day heading into Wednesday's matchup with Los Angeles.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Takes seat versus lefty
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Baty is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Dodgers.
Baty has cobbled together a four-game hitting streak to bring his average (.184) closer to the Mendoza Line, but the lefty-hitting rookie could still find himself on the bench regularly against left-handers like the Dodgers' Andrew Heaney until he first proves he can master right-handed pitching. The switch-hitting Eduardo Escobar will spell Baty at third base.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Not starting Saturday
Rotowire
Baty will hit the bench Saturday against the Rockies.
Eduardo Escobar returned from an oblique injury Saturday and will start at third base, but Baty hasn't been sent down to clear space, so he's presumably still part of the picture at the hot corner. He could lose at-bats going forward, however, as he's hit just .171/.237/.343 in his first 10 major-league games.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Possible waiver wire pickups
Rotowire
Yes, yes, the latest high-profile call-up homered in his first big-league at-bat, and what a moment it was. But perhaps even more notable from an evaluation standpoint is that he hit a ball 113 mph -- against a fellow lefty, no less. It was hit on the ground and resulted in an out, but it's the hardest a Mets left-handed batter has impacted the ball since 2020. Already, it puts Baty in the 90th percentile for maximum exit velocity, and that's the purest indicator of a player's power potential. His minor-league numbers may have been enough to wow you, and as long as he keeps the strikeouts under control, which is plausible, I think they'll end up translating well. The Mets figure to give him all the starts he can handle at third base.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Homers in first MLB at-bat
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Baty went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Wednesday's 9-7 victory over Atlanta.
Baty took Jake Odorizzi deep in his first career at-bat. Baty only played six games at Triple-A Syracuse, but he mashed at the Double-A level to the tune of a .312/.406/.544 slash line, and Wednesday's homer gives some early validation to the team's decision to promote him. It was also a plus that Baty didn't go down on strikes in his debut, considering he'd mustered a 25.0 percent strikeout rate in Double-A Binghamton.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Batting eighth in MLB debut
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The Mets selected Baty's contract from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday. He'll start at third base and bat eighth in his MLB debut Wednesday in Atlanta, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Expect the 22-year-old to get an extended look as the Mets' everyday third baseman while both Luis Guillorme (groin) and Eduardo Escobar (oblique) are on the shelf. The lefty-hitting Baty has only six games of experience above the Double-A level, but he shined across stops at the Mets' top two minor-league affiliates this season, slashing a collective .315/.410/.533 with a 24.8 percent strikeout rate and 11.6 percent walk rate. Baty could be an appealing speculative pickup in deeper mixed leagues for managers looking for an infusion of power from a corner-infield spot.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Earns promotion to Triple-A
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The Mets promoted Baty from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday, Michael Mayer of MetsmerizedOnline.com reports.
In Syracuse, Baty will be joining two of the organization's other top position prospects in catcher Francisco Alvarez and outfielder Mark Vientos. The 22-year-old Baty earned the call to Triple-A after slashing .312/.406/.544 with 41 extra-base hits and an 11.9 percent walk rate across 394 plate appearances at Binghamton.
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Mets' Brett Baty: On fire for Rumble Ponies
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Baty launched two two-run home runs for Double-A Binghamton on Thursday before the game was suspended due to severe weather, Michael Avallone of MLB.com reports.
The game will be completed Friday afternoon, with the Rumble Ponies already ahead 10-1 in the top of the third inning thanks in large part to Baty's own thunder. He's been locked in a lot longer than that, however -- over his last 16 games heading into Thursday, the 22-year-old slashed .424/.506/.742 with five homers and 20 RBI. Baty has soared up prospect rankings thanks to a breakout campaign, and with third base being the one spot in the Mets' infield that doesn't seem set for 2023, a big-league debut next season seems entirely possible if he continues slugging in the high minors.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Hits in 14 straight games
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Baty has a 14-game hitting streak going for Double-A Binghamton and now boasts a .282/.372/.450 slash line with seven home runs over 54 games this season.
We're still waiting for Baty to get to his considerable raw power consistently in game action, something he'll need to do to succeed at the major-league level if he's going to keep striking out at a fairly high clip (28.1 percent this year). Nonetheless, the 22-year-old third baseman is making progress. Three of his homers have come over the course of the aforementioned hitting streak, during which he's lifted his batting average by 30 points. The Mets have no need to rush him to the big leagues, so look for Baty's development path to remain slow and steady.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Huge game Wednesday
Rotowire
Baty had his biggest game of the year for Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a homer, a walk, two RBI and three runs. He's now hitting .283/.372/.455 with two homers and 11 doubles across 27 games.
It's good to see Baty hit the ball over the fence, as his only other long ball came in Binghamton's season opener April 8. It's also encouraging to see him go a game without striking out, which is only the fifth time this season he's been able to do so. Despite that, Baty has a solid season line, as he's hitting a bit better than he did in his first taste of Double-A last season. To punch his ticket to the big leagues, though, Baty's going to have to translate his tremendous raw power to game action far more often. That said, there's nothing wrong with his all-fields approach, and Baty is hitting far more line drives and fly balls than he did last year, which is promising.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Huge game at Double-A
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Baty went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and four RBI for Double-A Binghamton on Thursday.
The 21-year-old took a couple weeks to find his footing following his promotion to Double-A, but through 10 games in August, Baty is slashing .378/.455/.676 with a 6:8 BB:K. The Mets' No. 3 fantasy prospect has seen some action in left field with the Rumble Ponies, in part because of the presence of fellow third baseman and No. 2 organizational prospect Mark Vientos (undisclosed) on the Binghamton roster, but if he can keep his strikeouts in check and get to his power more often in games, Baty's bat will play anywhere.
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Mets' Brett Baty: Moving up to Double-A
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Baty will be promoted to Double-A Binghamton after participating in the Futures Game on Sunday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.
Baty has found success at the plate this season with High-A Brooklyn, slashing .309//397/.514 across 209 plate appearances. Baty will now join Binghamton, where he's likely to finish his campaign. If the infielder continues to progress as expected, he could become a candidate to be called up to the majors as soon as 2022.
