Brett Baty Finishing Spring Training on High Note
In the hours prior to the Mets signing designated hitter J.D. Martinez, third baseman Brett Baty looked to continue his hot hitting streak during spring training.
While Baty had a slow start, he has picked it up as of late. Entering Thursday’s contest, Baty was batting .290/.371/.516 with an .887 OPS in March.
Photo Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports
Manager Carlos Mendoza has noticed Baty’s positive strides this spring, telling the New York Post that he’s done everything necessary to impress the Mets’ brass.
“He’s having a nice camp,” Mendoza said. “I like the way he is playing, physically, mentally, defensively, his at-bats. He’s doing what he needs to be doing,” he said.
After launching a home run on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, Baty looked to do so again against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. He did just that in the fourth inning off of Matt Manning, blasting a two-run homer to center field that traveled 406 feet at an exit velocity of 105.4 mph.
Although that was his only hit of the day, he did hit another ball 106 mph when he lined out to center field in the third inning. This uptick in exit velocity is highly encouraging for Baty, who placed in the 55th percentile in that category for the 2023 season with an average of 89.5 mph.
As his exit velocity has increased, so has his pull percentage, growing from 37 percent in 2023 to 54.3 percent on his batted balls during spring training.
Despite this difference in Baty’s batted ball profile, he is still hitting the ball on the ground at an alarming rate. His 62.9 percent ground ball rate sits well above league average, and it is a trend that has remained consistent throughout Baty’s career in both the major and minor leagues up to this point.
After his 1-for-3 performance on Thursday, Baty is now batting .250/.327/.477 with an .804 OPS through 44 spring training at-bats.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, this performance has prompted the Mets to name Baty the starting third baseman on Opening Day. While it was essentially his job to lose, this declaration by the Mets shows that they are confident in Baty’s abilities after what they saw this spring.
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