And the award for the most frustrating NY Mets player of 2025 goes to…

There have been a lot of very good performances by New York Mets players this year. The Mets sent four players to the All-Star game this year, with Juan Soto, Kodai Senga, and many others having great years. However, arguably the most frustrating player of the Mets’ season so far has been former top prospect Brett Baty.

Baty had already been a fairly frustrating player. Formerly a consensus top 40 prospect in all of baseball, Baty fell well short of expectations in 2022 through 2024. He only batted .215/.282/.325 with a 72 wRC+. Baty, who was known for his power potential, only went yard 15 times in 602 plate appearances and 169 games. His defense at the hot corner was also lackluster, with -9 defensive runs saved and -3 outs above average.

Baty was far from a guarantee of making the Mets’ Opening Day roster. But he went on a hot streak in March, putting up a 1.186 OPS, .495 wOBA, and 198 wRC+, ranking in the top three in each stat. That strong spring didn’t carry over into the regular season initially, with a negative wRC+ through his first 31 trips to the plate.

But things began to click for Baty after this. Over his subsequent 93 plate appearances, Baty slashed .294/.348/.588 with a .398 wOBA, and 163 wRC+. The infielder went yard six times with an isolated slugging percentage of nearly .300 at .294. By the end of May, Baty looked like a potential middle-of-the-order power threat. However, that came crashing down at the start of June.

No Mets player has been more frustrating this year than Brett Baty.

Baty owns just a .200/.271/.324 triple-slash over his last 118 trips to the plate, erasing the hot streak he had to open 2025. He has only hit three home runs since, and his isolated slugging percentage has fallen by 100 percentage points. Overall, his wOBA and wRC+ have dropped to just .265 and 71, respectively.

What makes this even more frustrating is that Baty has become a solid defensive third baseman and second baseman. He already has +4 defensive runs saved and outs above average on the year at the hot corner. Despite never playing an inning at the keystone, Baty has graded out as a roughly average glove, with zero DRS and only -1 OAA.

Showing promise before falling off a cliff is frustrating, but what makes Baty’s quick fall after what was the most promising stretch of games of his time in MLB is the fact the Mets need help at these positions. Mets’ second basemen have just a +0.9 fWAR and 80 wRC+ this year. Their third basemen have a +0.7 fWAR and 84 wRC+. 

Baty didn’t need to continue hitting nearly .300 with a wRC+ over 160. If he just kept producing at an average level, he would have been a significant upgrade for the Mets at one of third or second base. With how promising he looked in April and May, the sharp drop in production, and the fact he could have helped the Mets out at two positions of need, he has been the most disappointing member of the Mets this season.