Since making his debut, Brett Baty has been fighting to prove he belongs in the majors. The former first round pick, whom the Mets drafted 12th overall in 2019, has struggled to establish himself at the big league level, and there were serious doubts about where he might fit on the Mets’ roster, especially after Mark Vientos’ breakout 2024 regular season and eye-opening postseason performance.
Fast-forward to the end of the 2025 season: Baty enjoyed an all-around solid campaign on both sides of the ball,
while Vientos came crashing back to earth. Meanwhile, Ronny Mauricio, who missed all of 2024 due to an ACL injury, failed to make a strong impression in his return. All of that helped Baty climb up the depth chart in the minds of both the Mets and the fans. This is a critical season for Baty, who must show that the progress he made in 2025 is not a fluke, and that he has legitimate staying power at the big league level.
Baty’s star shone brightest right before the start of his major league career. He entered 2022 ranked No. 2 among prospect in the Mets’ system by both Amazin’ Avenue and MLB Pipeline (No. 27 overall by the MLB Pipeline rankings). By the midway point of the season, he moved up to #19 overall and the calls grew louder for the Mets to bring him up, including from our very own Michael Drago. The call finally came in mid-August, and he homered in his very first at-bat in Truist Park, a feat accomplished by only four other Mets before him, which showcased some of the promise that excited the fanbase and the organization.
However, that really was the lone highlight of a rough launch to his career. He appeared in 11 games and slashed a paltry .184/.244/.342 in 38 at-bats, finishing the year with a -0.1 fWAR and a 69 wRC+. After a scorching-hot start in Triple-A to kick off 2023, he returned to Flushing two weeks into the season and stayed with the club, more or less, through August, posting a -0.5 fWAR in 389 plate appearances. He ended 2023 with nine homers and 51 runs scored, and slashed .212/.275/.323 with a 67 wRC+.
He broke camp with the club for the first time in 2024 and stayed with the team until late May, when his inconsistent play earned him a demotion to Triple-A so he could get consistent playing time. His numbers were marginally better—a 0.5 fWAR, an 83 wRC+, and a .229/.306/.327 slash line, with four home runs in 50 games—but nowhere near good enough for his level of promise and the needs of the club. Combine that with Vientos’ breakthrough, and Baty didn’t really fit on the roster.
Baty once again broke camp with the Mets in 2025, and once again failed to make a positive impression. He hit .204/.246/.352 with a 66 wRC+ in 18 games prior to his demotion, but he returned in early May following Jesse Winker’s injury and stuck around this time. From that point forward, he saw much more consistent playing time and posted a 117 wRC+ in 108 games, slashing .263/.324/.448 while hitting 17 home runs, scoring 49 runs, and driving in 46. He set career highs in all major offensive categories, including hits (100), doubles (13), homers (18), runs scored (53), RBI (50), walks (33), and wRC+ (111) while posting a career-best 2.3 fWAR. He also started 46 games and appeared in 57 games at second base, a position he had never played before, and posted a 3 DRS and a -1 OAA, while posting a 4 DRS and a 2 OAA at third base, his natural position. That, paired with Vientos’ awful play at third, helped him secure more time in the field and has done wonders for his outlook heading into 2026.
A quick glance at his baseball savant page shows noticeable improvement in a few key areas, including Avg Exit Velo (90.7 in 2025 vs. 86.6 in 2024), Barrel % (12.8% in 2025 vs. 5.4% in 2024), Hard Hit % (46.9% in 2025 vs. 33.0% in 2024), and Chase % (24.8% in 2025 vs. 31.1% in 2025). In each of those categories, he progressed from ‘poor’ or ‘average’ to ‘great’ in 2025. He also finished 2025 in the 86th percentile among qualified major league hitters with a bat speed of 74.8 mph, up from 73.5 mph in 2024—he finished 2025 second behind only Pete Alonso in bat speed among Mets hitters). He did hit the ball on the ground way too often, which has plagued him throughout his career. His 52.6% GB% in 2025 was the fifth-highest among major leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances, and it’s something he will likely need to work on with the team’s new hitting coach. As Michael summarized in his season review for Baty:
To put it simply: when Baty swings hard and makes good contact, he’s still capable of showing why he was such a highly rated prospect just a few short years ago. While the bad parts of his batting profile still held him back some, the good parts allowed him to take a meaningful step forward this year.
This is probably the first year that Baty is all but guaranteed a spot out of spring training, and he has come out swinging to start spring. As of March 14, he’s posted a 191 wRC+ while slashing .389/.450/.667 with one homer, two doubles, 4 runs scored, and five runs batted in over 20 plate appearances. He’s worked hard to seize the opportunity in front of him and has left no doubt that he deserves a spot on the roster.
And yet, Baty still enters 2026 with something to prove. His name was floated in trade rumors all offseason, as recently as February, despite being under team control until he reaches free agency in 2030. The price was understandably high, and the winter came and went without a trade. However, two of the club’s most notable acquisitions—Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette—have displaced Baty from his natural infield positions. He has spent the spring taking up outfield, despite only one major league inning in left field to date (back in 2023). He made his spring debut in right field and has spent considerable time playing the outfield, exclaiming that he is “comfortable” playing the outfield given his time there in both Double-A and high school. Baty has displayed the right attitude amidst the transition, saying “I just love being on the field, wherever I play,” and “Whatever it takes to help us win.” Despite the up-and-down start to his career, all signs point to him still having a place on this team, especially if he can build off his 2025 progress.
Most Mets fans are not the illusion that Baty will become a superstar who can carry the franchise. However, with his positional flexibility, and given the progress he made at the plate in 2025, there’s every hope he can establish himself as a super utility player who can become very useful to the club for years to come. With Jeff McNeil now in Oakland Sacramento, Baty can take up the mantle and fill his shoes, playing a little bit of second, a little bit of third, and a little bit of the outfield when needed. That would serve the club well, and would likely lead to Baty finding a pretty steady spot on the club’s roster for the foreseeable future.
