ATLANTA — Brett Baty’s confidence that he belongs with the Mets might be most evident in the manner he is carrying himself on the field and in the clubhouse.
It’s Baty celebrating on the bases after a big hit. It’s Baty engaging with teammates and displaying his personality.
The 24-year-old third baseman is showing a sense of belonging.
“It’s the total package, which before hasn’t been there,” Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez said before Wednesday’s game against the Braves was postponed by weather. “Last year he was maybe a deer in the headlights, maybe not a whole lot of belief and questioning, ‘Can I play at this level?’ This year it’s the whole thing: It’s defense, base running. … He’s a great teammate and his personality is coming out.”
Baty’s performance has been among the bright spots of the team’s first 11 games.
Baty has reached base in all but one game he’s played and owns a .325/.372/.400 slash line with one homer and five RBIs while showing improvement at third base.
It’s a small sample size for sure, but Baty’s fast start has quelled concern about the position.
Baty is also playing against left-handers and showing early adeptness with four hits (including his homer) in 10 at-bats against lefties.
“I feel I am swinging at good pitches and taking quality at-bats,” Baty said.
Defensively, it’s all in the footwork.
“I think I’m catching ground balls with my feet right now and making good throws and slowing the game down,” Baty said.
Mets infield coach Mike Sarbaugh cited a play Baty made last weekend in Cincinnati in which he ranged to his left in front of Francisco Lindor and threw out Elly De La Cruz, who is among MLB’s fastest runners.
“He’s put a lot of work into it,” Sarbaugh said. “He’s moved well early on and he’s shown me a little more range than I expected to see, and that is a good thing. But you can see his confidence growing each day.”
Baty has said he appreciates that Sarbaugh keeps instructions simple with him. Sarbaugh was asked what “simple” entails.
“Take what we do well and keep working on it and work a little bit on your limitations,” Sarbaugh said. “But I think the most important thing is we want to make the routine plays and the great plays just happen.
“We try to do too much and that is when we get into some trouble, so just try to be consistent with everything and just make the routine play.”
Chavez, a former Gold Glove third baseman, can dissect where Baty has improved physically as a hitter and defender, but says Baty’s change in mindset is more relevant.
Last year a struggling Baty was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse in August after spending most of the season as the club’s starting third baseman. But after Ronny Mauricio tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing winter ball, the job was Baty’s to lose in spring training, and he kept it.
“We can break down things physically all we want, but there is a mental component, a mental confidence,” Chavez said. “I have said for the last couple of years that when he starts believing he can play third base at this level and when he can hit at this level is when it will happen.
“We could coach our asses off all we want, but that is something that needed to come from the inner, emotional part of it and the psychological part. Regardless of how good any coach is, the player has to believe it and it’s what we’re seeing.”
