The Mets may have gotten their answer on Brett Baty in right field, and it wasn’t a flattering one.
With Juan Soto getting a day off and Luis Robert Jr. unavailable after coming off the IL, the Mets turned to Baty in Wednesday’s finale against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was an understandable choice, even if it didn’t feel like the best one. Tyrone Taylor and Jared Young were other possibilities, but Baty got the nod.
The problem showed up quickly. Baty misread a fly ball, another outfield mistake in a season that has already featured too many of them. It was his 18th start in the outfield this year, but his time there has steadily dried up over the last two months as the Mets have built more depth on the grass.
That leaves the club in a strange place, trying to juggle playing time with an eye toward trade value, or in Taylor’s case, maybe protecting it. And if the Mets are going to keep finding ways to get Baty into the lineup, there’s a much more logical place to do it.
Why not first base?
Baty has started only seven games there, with a few more appearances as a defensive replacement. The Mets have been working to turn him into a utility piece while also hoping his bat keeps developing, but the two-track experiment hasn’t exactly taken off. He’s still steady at third base, maybe average or a little better at second, and at times looks lost everywhere else.
First base has been his worst spot by Outs Above Average, at minus-3, though the sample is tiny. Even so, it’s a position where the Mets could use more depth, and one that makes more sense than continuing to push him into the outfield.
If the priority really is the future, Baty needs more work at first. Jared Young has handled most of those reps, which makes sense because of his bat.
He’s already a first baseman and corner outfielder, and he’s shown off some slick plays at first this season. The simplest read is that the Mets want more looks at Young there while also continuing to test Baty in unfamiliar places.
That’s part of what makes Baty such a difficult player to pin down. He was a former first-round pick, and his strong finish last year has kept the organization invested in him.
The Mets are still trying to figure out exactly what he is. The right field trial hasn’t helped.
First base might.
There’s at least more reason to believe he can grow there than in the outfield, especially after what he’s shown at the infield spots. He’s come a long way from the days when missed pop ups at third base were hitting him in the face. And while his confidence has never exactly jumped off the page, moving him around the diamond may not be doing his bat any favors this season.
That doesn’t mean the Mets should shut down the versatility project altogether. But sticking with him as an infielder, where he’s already made real progress, seems like the smarter path.
Baty did own the mistake right away by finding Christian Scott in the dugout, and then he backed it up with a home run.
For the Mets, though, the bigger question remains: is this the end of the line for Baty in right field?
In Other News...
This Unheralded Mets Prospect Is Forcing His Way Onto The Radar
The Mets have found an unusual kind of minor league success story in the outfield, and it comes from a player who was not on the usual prospect track. Signed in March out of the independent leagues, the 24-year-old has worked his way to Triple-A and has been one of the organizations most productive bats, pairing power with enough speed to make him a noticeable presence on the bases. His offensive line has stood out in a system that does not exactly lack for attention-grabbing names, especially for a player who arrived without much fanfare.
What makes the run even more interesting is how complete it has looked. He has hit for power, run the bases well and kept his strikeout rate at a manageable level, which helps explain why he now leads all Mets minor leaguers in RBIs. He is still older than many of the players around him and not yet the kind of prospect who automatically forces his way into every conversation, but performances like this tend to change the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Suddenly Have A Trade Deadline Chance Nobody Saw Coming
Luis Robert Jr. is back in the conversation at just the right time for a Mets front office that is already weighing all kinds of deadline possibilities. According to reports from The Athletic, the outfielder has drawn preliminary interest as New York looks at trades involving several players, and his appeal is easy to see on paper: he is under team control at a manageable price, with money due beyond this season and a club option waiting for 2027.
The timing adds another layer for a club that is expected to sell, because Robert only recently returned from an injury absence and still carries the kind of upside that can make teams pause even when the production has been uneven. New York does not have to decide anything immediately, but the fact that a player with Roberts profile is already in the mix gives the Mets a possible deadline chip they probably did not expect to have on the board this soon. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Outfielder Suddenly Emerging In Deadline Buzz For A Contender
The Phillies are still sorting out what they need most before the trade deadline, and the list is familiar for a contender trying to patch holes without emptying a thin farm system. A late-inning bullpen arm sits near the top of the wish list, along with starting pitching depth and a right-handed bat to help against left-handed pitching, which has pushed a couple of versatile outfield options into the conversation.
Among the names being floated is Tyrone Taylor, whose profile gives Philadelphia a different kind of look than some of the other rental bats out there. Lane Thomas of the Royals is also in the mix, and the comparison matters because the Phillies are weighing affordability, fit and whether they want a player with more on-base value or more pop as they try to improve the roster without creating another problem elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]