Buck Showalter announced Monday afternoon that New York optioned third baseman Brett Baty to Triple-A Syracuse.
On SNY’s Baseball Night in New York Monday evening, MLB insider Andy Martino explained why.
“Well, they just thought — talking to Mets people — Baty just wasn’t at his best self and he needed a timeout,” Martino said. “He needed to recover some confidence. When he came up here — Brett Baty has swagger, at his best, in the most positive way. He’s a nice, down-to-earth guy. But he carries himself with a lot of confidence, and they felt that he lost that confidence.
“And I’m not just talking about body language around the clubhouse. I’m talking about — the Mets thought, maybe, if there’s a veteran pitcher on the mound and Baty has a chance to barehand a ball to first, he doesn’t, he puts it in his pocket. And then when he decides to throw a ball, maybe that wasn’t the right moment to do it. So the decisions are kind of off. They felt that he wasn’t really firing at the plate on pitches, that he should’ve been more aggressive on.
“And it’s like, ‘This is not Brett Baty. So what he seemed to need was just a step back, ‘Go remember that you’re a really good baseball player on the defensive side and developing one on the defensive side and just take a beat and relax.’
“They gave him some objectives, offensively and defensively. And if he hits those, he’ll be back pretty soon. No guarantees with these things, but it could be a pretty short demotion and they just thought he needed, like I said, a timeout.”
With Baty demoted and Starling Marte on the 10-day IL due to a groin strain, the Mets called up infielder Jonathan Arauz and outfielder Abraham Almonte.
Baty, the Mets’ first-round draft pick in 2019, was called up to much fanfare earlier this season, taking over the everyday job from veteran Eduardo Escobar, whom New York traded to the Los Angeles Angels.
After Baty got a taste of big league action in 2022 and homering in his first career at-bat in a game against the Atlanta Braves, he looked ready to lock down third base for the Mets for years to come.
But it’s been a struggle for Baty this season, especially of late. During the Mets’ six-game road trip, Baty went 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts.
“Just a little timeout, kind of a ‘take a breath,’” Showalter said ahead of Monday’s game against the Chicago Cubs. “Mental, emotional, just kind of let him work on some things without the day-to-day. … But I think Brett, we know it’s in the best interest of his development.
“I’ve had a lot of young players who have gone through this, without doing a lot of name-dropping. I think it’s in his best interest to go down, take a breath and get back to what he was doing when he first got here. It’s a tough place to do that.”
With Baty heading to Syracuse, that likely means more time at third base for fellow highly regarded prospect Mark Vientos, who started at the hot corner in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Overall, Baty slashed .216/.289/.331 with seven home runs and 27 RBI in 86 games this season. His defense has also been shaky at times — he’s committed nine errors at third.
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