3 Mets players who will take a step forward next year, 2 who won't

Brett Baty raised too many questions in his rookie year

Brett Baty is one of those Mets players who Mauricio can win starts away from. He had every chance possible to establish himself as the unquestioned starting third baseman in 2023. The year ended up being incredibly flat and even included a demotion.

Baty slashed .212/.275/.323 on the year with 9 home runs and 34 RBI. By every measure, he put together the kind of defensive performance where if you live by the “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” theory, we’d have nothing to say. Questions about his defense were already present before he was a major leaguer. They’ve only been confirmed through his first 901.2 innings at third base. Does he belong somewhere else?

The unfortunate part of Baty’s season is how there really isn’t a major highlight. Alvarez struggled, but put on a power display and looked sharp at catcher. Not Baty. He didn’t do much of anything to have fans insisting he’s the starting third baseman moving forward.

With Mauricio breathing down his neck and a front office regime with a different viewpoint, Baty’s time as the starting third baseman for the Mets could be over before it even got started. How much longer of a leash will they give him?