Mets' Brett Baty embraces Jeff McNeil's tips on how to improve his game
Mets third baseman Brett Baty throws to first during the eighth inning of a game against the Nationals on Wednesday in Washington. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
ATLANTA — It’s not uncommon after a Mets win to see Brett Baty hugging Jeff McNeil.
OK, “hug” maybe isn’t the word for it. It’s more like a full-bodied mauling, like the type you get from an affectionate Bernese Mountain Dog who doesn’t comprehend his size. McNeil doesn’t really ever hug back, and “I don’t know if he will,” Baty said Thursday before the Mets headed to Atlanta.
This, believe it or not, is tied to Baty getting his second straight start at second base Friday night. It was mostly borne of necessity: McNeil is nursing a sore shoulder that allows him to hit but makes it difficult to throw (Brandon Nimmo and Luis Torrens also are banged up, meaning all three were held out of the starting lineup).
But Baty, a natural third baseman who didn’t so much as sniff second base professionally until he played a few games there with Triple-A Syracuse last year, has manned the position in 46 games this season. He has acquitted himself well enough that manager Carlos Mendoza said he feels “really comfortable with him playing” there.
Naturally, a lot of that development came in spring training. And who better to help usher the way than the second baseman who’s actually played every position except catcher and pitcher?
“Early in spring training, Baty was pretty new, and he talked to me a little bit about that,” McNeil said earlier this year. “I feel like it’s a trend in the game nowadays where the younger guys are being asked to play multiple positions because it’s just too valuable. You’ve got all these young guys that are able to play all over the diamond and it makes the team better.”
Even when the team is healthy, it’s allowed Mendoza more opportunity to keep Baty in the lineup, and as the Mets continue to flounder, that help is sorely needed. Going into Friday, Baty had reached base in nine straight contests. He’s batting .333 with four homers and seven RBIs in 13 games this month and is slashing .282/.352/.526 since the All-Star break.
“He’s in a really good place,” Mendoza said. “Defensively, he continues to make good plays but offensively, the quality of at- bats, the impact, his ability to drive the ball. I think he’s in a really good place on both sides of the ball . . . [We value] the versatility, not only at third but at second base. I feel comfortable with him playing and he continues to swing the bat, but you’ve got to give him credit because since we brought it up to him for this opportunity, he went with it and continued to work.”
The most significant hurdle is acclimating to the different “internal clocks at every infield position,” Baty said. “The biggest thing I needed to adjust to is having that internal clock, whether for double plays or ground balls up the middle and having chemistry with Paco [Francisco Lindor] up the middle. It’s just different than third base, [so it’s about] knowing how much time you have and what you can get away with.”
Help has come from all sides, but yes, McNeil has been a factor.
“He’s been awesome,” Baty said. “He’s been doing this thing for a long time, so just to be able to pick his brain and get his wisdom has been really good for me . . . I’ve leaned on him a lot.”
Figuratively and literally, such as when he helps himself to a piggyback ride after a win.
By the way, does he mind that McNeil never hugs back?
“Nah,” he said. “I like what we’ve got going.”
Notes & quotes: Nimmo’s stiff neck is still acting up but “he’s better today,” Mendoza said. The outfielder left the game in the second inning Wednesday because of the recurring ailment, which stems from a 2019 outfield collision and will have to be managed for the rest of his career. “He got treatment and he’s going to move around. Yesterday, he didn’t do anything, but today, the fact that he came in and he’s like, I’m going to move around, that’s a good sign.” . . . McNeil got a precautionary MRI on his sore shoulder that came back clean. He’ll continue to be a late-game option off the bench for the time being; he pinch hit in the eighth Thursday and finished the game in left . . . Torrens’ hand injury, which he suffered on a foul tip Wednesday, still is sore but won’t need imaging. Hayden Senger started Thursday and Friday.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
