Long Ball Baty Continues Hot Stretch

With four home runs since Friday, the switch may have flipped for Brett Baty. He can’t really explain it.

“I just feel the same,” he told reporters after going 2-for-3 with a tiebreaking solo homer that was the difference in a 2-1 victory over the Pirates Tuesday at Citi Field. “I’m the same guy. It’s just the game. It’s just there’s a lot of highs and lows and you just gotta be the same guy every single day.”

Earlier in the season, as he muddled through an 11-for-54 start and was sent to the minors, it seemed as though Baty found himself in a lot of bad counts at the plate. Has that changed?

“I feel like I still am (ending up in bad counts), honestly,” he said, dismissing that theory.  “I feel like … I need to go up there sometimes and just hit the breaking ball that they just dump over the middle of the plate to start. I just feel like right now I’m kinda focused on driving the pitch that I want to drive instead of like just swinging at strikes, I don’t know.”

While Baty can’t quite articulate what’s new, manager Carlos Mendoza sees a difference.

“Confidence,” he said. “A guy that knows he belongs in the big leagues. And just having fun. He’s preparing, he’s going out there, keeping it simple, getting good pitches to hit and just not overthinking it. And he’s using the whole field. We saw it getting a single to the pull side. And then that homer driving that ball with ease, I thought it was a line drive – maybe over the left fielder’s head – and it just kept on going. Pretty impressive. Big league power right there.”

Baty’s opposite-field homer in the seventh inning helped the Mets (28-15) win their third game in a row and improve to 17-4 at home. Since rejoining the big-league club a week ago, Baty is 6-for-17 with four home runs and seven RBIs. He’s seen his batting average jump 35 points to .239 and his OPS climb from .597 to .791.

“I feel like every young player when they first come up to the big leagues they’re always looking to impress or trying to do a little too much, you know trying to have success or results out of the gate,” Mendoza said. “Sometimes it takes a lot longer for guys.”

Mendoza thinks Baty’s last game prior to being sent down against the Phillies on April 23 may have been a turning point.

“I thought the fact that he was able to take (Zack) Wheeler that day for a homer, I think that’s got to give you a lot of confidence. One of the best pitchers in the league and now ‘OK, I can do this.’ I think every player is different, and for Baty, I’m just glad that he’s finally settling in and getting comfortable at this level.”

Kodai Senga, who threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, liked what he saw, too.

“I love having him on the team,” he said through an interpreter. “I think he looks very confident up there. And he has the potential and the power to hit it out of the ballpark, any part of the ballpark. And if he was an opposing hitter, I think any pitcher would not like to face him at this point.”

“I’ve always thought I’m capable of doing whatever I want to accomplish in this game,” said Baty, who was a first round pick (12th overall) in the 2019 draft. “I think everybody’s journey in this game is different and I’m thankful for every single part of mine for sure.”

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