Brett Baty

Brett Austin Baty

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 210 lb.
• High School Lake Travis High School
• Debut August 17, 2022

• Born November 13, 1999 in Round Rock, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Third baseman Brett Baty was the top selection of the New York Mets in the 2019 amateur draft, with the 11th overall pick, out of a high school in Texas. He signed quickly and managed to play for three different teams in what was his first professional season, 2019, batting a combined .234/.368/.452 with 16 doubles and 7 homers in 51 games. The bulk of this time was spent in the Appalachian League with the Kingsport Mets, but it was preceded by a week with the GCL Mets and ended with another week in the New York-Penn League with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

In 2020, like countless other professional ballplayers, Brett was forced into inactivity by the Coronavirus pandemic as the minor leagues were shut down. He returned to action in 2021 back with Brooklyn, which by then had been promoted two levels to the High-A East. He impressed in 51 games there, batting .309 with 7 homers and 34 RBIs, earning himself an invitation to appear for the National League team in the 2021 Futures Game. Shortly after that, he was promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Double-A Northeast, reaching that level at just 21. He continued to do well, hitting .272 in 40 games and finished with a combined line of .292/.382/.473 with 22 doubles and 12 homers in 91 games. He capped off the year by playing in the Arizona Fall League.

He made his major league debut with the Mets against the Atlanta Braves on August 17, 2022, starting at third base and batting eighth. In his first at-bat, he hit a two-run homer off Jake Odorizzi. He hit .184 in 11 games, with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, with all of his games on defense coming at third base. In the minors, he played 89 games for the AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies and 6 in AAA for the Syracuse Mets. In 95 games total, he hit .315/.410/.533 with 22 doubles, 19 homers, 76 runs and 60 RBIs. He was not on the postseason roster and began 2023 back in Syracuse, although it was speculated right from Opening Day that he would be playing in the Big Apple sooner rather than later. After he hit .400 in his first 9 games, news came out that the big league Mets were about to call him up. He ended up playing 108 games for the Mets, but hit just .212 with 9 homers and 34 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 66. He was one of a number of disappointments on a team that failed to meet the lofty expectations that had been attached to it before the season.

In 2024, not only did he make the Opening Day roster, but he was also in the starting line-up at third base on March 29th against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. While he went 0 for 3 that day, he then got a hit in 12 of his next 13 games to push his batting average to .327 by mid-April. However, he fell into a bad slump after that, finishing April at .256 the hitting just .185 in May. With the team struggling badly, he was optioned to Syracuse at the end of the month, while another youngster, Mark Vientos took over at third base. He was briefly called back to New York on June 8th, going 1 for 2 against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 9th, but it was his final appearance in the majors that season. He hit .252 in 62 games in AAA, with 16 homers and 45 RBIs, and .229 in 50 major league games, with 4 homers and 16 RBIs for an OPS+ of 82. He was not on the roster when the Mets made it into the postseason, and following the season, he was affected by the signing of superstar OF Juan Soto - not that the two were battling for a position, but Soto's preferred uniform number was 22, which he had worn since making his major league debut. The two came to an agreement to make a switch, with Baty taking number 7, then at the start of spring training in 2025 Soto surprised him by offering him a new set of wheels to thank him for accepting the exchange. Until then, Bret had still been driving the old beater he had in high school almost a decade earlier and had confided to teammates that he dreamed of one day owning a proper SUV; one of them must have passed the word to Juan.

Further Reading

• David Adler: "Baty has arrived: Hot start brewing confidence, results", mlb.com, April 12, 2024. [1]
• Sonja Chen: "Baty, tearing up Minors, getting call to Mets (source)", mlb.com, April 16, 2023. [2]
• Anthony DiComo: "Baty 'looking forward to the journey' to MLB", mlb.com, February 20, 2022. [3]
• Anthony DiComo: "'Pure joy' for Baty after fairytale HR in debut: Rookie becomes fifth Met to go yard in first career at-bat", mlb.com, August 18, 2022. [4]
• Anthony DiComo: "Soto surprises Baty with a new car in exchange for his uni number", mlb.com, February 20, 2025. [5]
• Anthony DiComo: "Baty earning big opportunity with Mets as torrid spring continues", mlb.com, March 21, 2025. [6]

Related Sites

• Brett Baty on mlb.com
• BR Minors page