Brett Baty comparison would be a crazy way to end the NY Mets Gold Glove drought

It’s easy to forget how much of an experiment it was to have Brett Baty at second base this year. Through all of the microscopes, beakers, and pipettes, it has almost been forgotten how he went into the year with more innings in left field than second base: 1. Although still proving himself to be a plus defender at third base for the New York Mets this season, the need to get Mark Vientos in the lineup without pushing out other DH options has made Baty a regular at second base.

The statistics tell us Baty has been only slightly above average at third base and an average C student at second base; try telling my mother that a C was average. The latter is acceptable. However, MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa seems to view him much differently.

What does DeRosa have to say? He’s getting DJ LeMahieu vibes from Baty at second base.

There are much worse players for Brett Baty to get compared to than DJ LeMahieu

Young or old DJ LeMahieu doesn’t matter much. Even after joining the New York Yankees in his 30s, LeMahieu was a quality defender. He took home a Gold Glove in 2022 as the first ever player to do so in the newly minted Utility Gold Glove spot. LeMahieu had over 30 starts at first base, second base, and third base that season.

Baty hasn’t been quite as versatile yet nor has he had to be. But with the added element of being even just an average defensive second baseman, he has surpassed what many thought he could accomplish heading into this season.

It wasn’t all that long ago that some of the same questions we have about Vientos at third base were present for Baty. He has grown into a reliable player at the hot corner over the last two seasons. It was his bat that was the last to wake up. Finally, it seems to be at some level of sustained success.

The Mets haven’t had a Gold Glove winner since Juan Lagares in 2014. No one on the present team seems destined to do so this year. Francisco Lindor has been a little too off his game. Baty won’t end the drought this year either, but if DeRosa’s vibes are the beginning of something more, perhaps we see something totally unexpected take place.

Baty becoming a Gold Glove contender would be a major turn of events for the Mets. Second base remains a position wide open for the taking. Increasingly more comfortable at the position, keeping him in a hybrid infield role might get in the way of him ever winning solo hardware while at the same time setting the Mets up for a better rounded roster of infield options. Jeff McNeil gets a lot of credit (and he should) for how he stepped into center field. It would’ve been far less effective with Baty being a butcher at second base and a free-swinging mess with a bat in his hands.