The Mets may not be ready to give up on Brett Baty, even if the numbers keep shouting the opposite.
SNY’s Chelsea Janes reported that “...some within the Mets front office still believe Baty will emerge as a lineup staple, which means they will not part with him for nothing.” That’s the heart of the matter now: the Mets don’t sound eager to dump him, but they also aren’t treating him like a player with real trade value.
That’s a tricky spot for a hitter who has been one of the least productive bats in the majors. Baty’s .605 OPS ranks him as the fourth-worst hitter in MLB, and over 1300 plate appearances since his 2022 debut, he’s hit .229/.296/.357.
The power piece is what stings most. That was supposed to be the carrying tool, the thing that made him different.
Instead, the home runs have never really come in the way the Mets hoped. He has just three this season, and 18 of his 36 career homers came last year.
Nine of those came in his final 190 plate appearances, which only sharpened the sense that the breakout was still somewhere out ahead. It hasn’t shown up consistently.
The ball hasn’t been leaving the ground enough, either. Baty has cut down on grounders this year, posting a 44.6% ground ball rate, and his 50.4% mark in 2023 was his second-lowest.
But that still sits above the league’s 42% over that stretch, and his career ground ball rate is 49.8%. Nearly half the balls he puts in play are headed toward the dirt.
This season, Baty is batting .218/.300/.305 overall. July has opened better than June, when he slumped to .147.
He’s 5 for 14 to start the month and has already matched last month’s extra-base hit total with a pair of doubles. Even so, the power drought is now stretching back to May 18.
The Mets have kept giving him runway. While Francisco Lindor was out, Baty saw plenty of time at third base.
At 26, with a birthday coming in November, he’s well past the stage where the excuse is simply youth or lack of reps. The chances have been there, and the cold stretches have kept coming.
That makes a trade at this year’s deadline hard to picture. A contender looking for help probably wouldn’t see Baty as the answer right now.
An offseason move makes more sense, especially with one remaining minor league option and arbitration not starting until next season’s salary. He’s controlled through 2029, but it would take a major shift for him to remain in Queens for the long haul.
For now, Baty still looks more like a bench piece or platoon bat than a lineup fixture. The Mets front office may still be betting on the upside, but the production has been far closer to a paperweight than a staple.
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