Name: Boston Baro
Position: INF
Born: 8/23/2004 (Age 21 season in 2026)
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 170 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R
Acquired: 2023 MLB Draft, 8th Round (Capistrano Valley High School, California)
2024 Stats: 103 G, 393 AB, .224/.282/.321, 88 H, 16 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 31 BB, 88 K, 28/30 SB, .274 BABIP (High-A)
A three-year letterwinner at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California, Boston Baro is a California native but was named after the city in Massachusetts because he was born into a family
from New England, with allegiances to the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins. He began his baseball career on the Eagles junior varsity team but was quickly promoted to the varsity team and never looked back, blossoming into one of the better middle infielders in California.
Originally committed to the University of New Mexico, Baro changed his commitment to UCLA prior to the 2023 MLB Draft. In the draft, the Mets selected the shortstop with their 8th round pick, the 246th player selected overall. The two sides agreed to a $700,000 signing bonus, well above the MLB-assigned slot value of $192,900. The 18-year-old was assigned to the FCL Mets and finished out the 2023 season appearing in 7 games for them, going 6-19 with 2 doubles, 5 walks, and 1 strikeout.
Named the Mets’ 23rd top prospect in Amazin’ Avenue’s 2024 Top 25 prospects list, Baro impressed the Mets during both fall instructs and spring training but had his 2024 season debut pushed back roughly a month because of a broken hamate bone. Assigned to the Single-A St. Lucie Mets, he finally got back on the field in late April. Appearing in 84 games for them, he hit .288/.368/.399 with 16 doubles, 4 triples, 4 home runs, 8 stolen bases in 9 attempts, and drew 41 walks to 66 strikeouts. He was promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones at the end of August and finished the season in Coney Island, going 9-44 in 11 games with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 stolen base, and 5 walks to 10 strikeouts.
Based on his performance, Amazin’ Avenue ranked Baro the Mets’ 13th top prospect coming into the 2025 season. The 20-year-old remained in Coney Island to start the season and wound up playing the entire year there. Appearing in 103 total games, his season ending prematurely at the end of August after sustaining a lower body muscular injury while running to first base on a dropped third strike, Baro hit .224/.282/.321 with 16 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 28 stolen bases in 30 attempts, and 31 walks to 88 strikeouts.
At the plate, the left-handed Baro stands slightly open, holding his hands high at eye level and angling his bat behind his head at 10:00. He has a loose, easy swing that involves fully extended arms and a back leg scissor kick. More of a gap hitter presently, the wiry 6’0”, 170-pound Baro has room to grow into additional in-game power. Mechanical adjustments to his swing- in particular, engaging his hips more efficiently with his swing style- may help future power potential as well.
Baro has a good sense of the strike zone and is able to cover the entire plate well, which helped him in 2025 helped eliminate the platoon splits that he demonstrated in 2024, but has consistently posted below-average Z-Contact rates throughout his young career so far. In 2024, he posted a 79.8% Z-Contact% with Single-A St. Lucie and in 2025, he posted a 77.2% rate with High-A Brooklyn. Not just making more contact, but making quality contact, will be integral to Baro’s future development.
While Baro’s understanding of the strike zone is fairly advanced for a 21-year-old, his eye for spin has been problematic thus far in his career. While he generally is able to make quality contact against fastballs, laying off bad pitches and driving good ones, he has struggled against breaking balls and off-speed pitches. His whiff rate is elevated against them as compared to his whiff rate against fastballs, and when he does make contact against secondary pitches, he generally is not making good contact.
On the dirt, he is a strong infielder who has experience playing shortstop, third base, and second base, and the tools to play any of them. He shows good reaction times, instincts, range, and footwork at all three. His arm is strong enough for third base and shortstop, but his accuracy there sometimes suffers.
