Brett Baty hopes the gains made at what looks to be the end of his season will propel him into next season.
After a poor start to his MLB year, Baty had been shuffled back to Triple-A Syracuse and was working through adjustments at the plate.
They were not working for him, a poor stretch and poor habits in the batter’s box following him to the minor leagues.
But in his last week as a healthy player, the infield prospect showed signs of swinging his way back to Queens.
For seven games in August he went 9-for-25 (.360) with four walks, three home runs and a 1.248 OPS that built expectation for a September call-up — which did not come because on Aug. 22 he was struck by a pitch that fractured his left index finger.
The timing was dreadful for a player who returned in time to play three more late-September games with Syracuse before joining the Mets taxi squad for the postseason, around the club but not quite part of it.
If Baty cannot contribute more this year, he hopes the late-season tweaks he made in Syracuse will set him up well for 2025.
“I felt like I just got back to my normal self,” Baty said of his hot stretch preceding the injury. “I felt like I was trying to do some different things leading up to that, and then I was just, like: Scratch that, I’m just going to go back to myself and swinging at good pitches and trying to put the barrel on the ball and hit it to all fields and stuff.
“Actually hit my first opposite-field homer of the year during that stretch. So I was like: ‘Oh, that’s back to being me.’”
If Baty finds himself and unlocks the potential that made him one of the better prospects in baseball, the Mets would have a good problem on their hands.
As Mark Vientos — the other top third base prospect who has turned into a star, who has been announcing himself on the highest stages during a torrid, breakout season — was on the dais before Friday’s Game 5 of the NLCS at Citi Field against the Dodgers, Baty was taking ground balls at third base and second base.
Vientos has asserted himself as a power-hitting corner infielder who has played a serviceable third base this season and could again next year, unless Pete Alonso walks in free agency and the Mets opt to shift Vientos across the diamond.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Mets in the postseason:
- Mets demolished again as playoff magic evaporates to put season on the brink
- Why Mets starter’s previous strength disappeared in rough outing
- Heyman: Miracle Mets are still trying to solve their Shohei Ohtani enigma
- Mets saw both sides of Brandon Nimmo’s Game 4 heart and hustle
Perhaps they would then search for an established third baseman, or perhaps they would host a competition between the likes of Baty and Ronny Mauricio next spring.
If Vientos retains the third-base job, Baty believes he is opening up a different path to the majors.
Because Vientos had nailed down the major league gig at the hot corner, Baty played 27 games at second with Syracuse.
“I think I got more and more comfortable the more I played it in Triple-A,” said Baty, who estimated he received the ball at second base for eight to 10 double plays and jump-started another five. “But I think that was the biggest thing, was the double-play feeds and learning how to do the feet.”
A first-round pick in 2019, Baty shot his way through the minors as a bat-first prospect who emerged in 2022, when he posted a .943 OPS with 22 home runs in 95 minor league games.
But it has ironically been his bat that has needed work at the major league level.
Baty, the Opening Day third baseman this season, played solid defense but hit .229 with a .633 OPS in 50 major league games this year.
Baty is 24 and owns a pedigree of figuring it out.
Hitting ground balls haunted him in the majors, and he is hoping a minor league revelation can lead to major league results.
“I think it was just: I was trying to tweak some things to be better at this level, and then that led to me creating bad habits down there,” Baty said. “And then I just kept doing those bad habits and bad habits, and it just kind of ran away with itself.
“But then I just got back to what I think I can be, and it showed.”