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Brett Baty
Week: 6 G, 23 AB, .304/.407/.739, 7 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 6 K, 0/0 SB (Triple-A)
2024 Season: 56 G, 212 AB, .259/.356/.528, 55 H, 9 2B, 0 3B, 16 HR, 30 BB, 50 K, 1/1 SB, .264 BABIP (Triple-A) / 50 G, 153 AB, .229/.306/.327, 35 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 16 BB, 42 K, 0/0 SB, .290 BABIP (MLB)
To say that Brett Baty has not lived up to expectations is an understatement. After hitting a solid .245/.333/.434 and winning the opening day third baseman nod over Mark Vientos and Joey Wendle, Baty struggled, hitting .229/.306/.327 in 50 games with just 4 home runs. Sent down to Triple-A Syracuse at the beginning of June, he has remained there in the months since, getting called back up briefly to the major league level during the MLB London Series 2024. The third baseman is hitting a healthier .259/.356/.528 with 16 home runs in 56 games.
During his time with the Mets, Baty was hammering the ball into the ground, with a 53.6% groundball rate. Against fastballs, he was averaging a -7.5° launch angle; against breaking balls, he was averaging a -15.1° launch angle, and against off-speed pitches, he was averaging a -15.7° launch angle. In Syracuse, he has a 44.2% groundball rate, down roughly 10%, and is averaging a -2.6° launch angle against fastballs, a -12.1° launch angle against breaking balls, and a -14.9° launch angle against off-speed pitches. Those numbers are still well suboptimal, but they show some degree of improvement.
Adjusting his swing to add more loft and plane while maintaining his ability to square up on pitches and register high exit velocities has long been the white whale for the now-24-year-old infielder. Most recently, coming into Spring Training 2024, he worked with Mets assistant hitting coach Jeremy Barnes to strengthen his top (left) hand, which would make his swing quicker and more direct to the ball. Given the struggles he had with the Mets, there is clearly still much work to be done.
Joander Suarez
Week: 2 G (2 GS), 10.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (Double-A)
2024 Season: 22 G (20 GS), 113.1 IP, 103 H, 53 R, 51 ER (4.05 ERA), 29 BB, 113 K, .298 BABIP (Double-A)
Joander is going to win the 2024 Pitcher of the Year election by a landslide, and we are not even there yet. He has just started. And you know what? He’s doing great. But we’re getting there. You know, they say that if Joander pitches, it’s over. It’s over, folks. If he pitches, they’re never gonna beat him. They’re never gonna– he’s got such great run support. He’s done an incredible job for Binghamton. So we’ll see what happens, but I’m telling you, this is one of those things.
This could be like 1985, where Doc Gooden won it all. It was so close in ‘84. He came in second. They said he had no chance. Then they said, “Oh, let’s give him another shot.” That didn’t work out too well. In fact, when Joander pitched against Portland four days ago, people were saying, “What happened to Joander?” Well, I’ll tell you. When he first started pitching, nobody knew who Joander was. Nobody knew. Now, everybody knows him, right? Everybody knows. That’s pretty good. Pretty good, actually. A lot better than being second place. Right? A lot.
So, that’s why I’ve been saying all along that, yes, I’d love Joander to win. But, boy, do these guys in Binghamton want him to. These guys, they don’t talk about it. Reid Brignac says, “Joander, please, please pitch.” Because he’ll take away the Eastern League’s hits, because Binghamton pitchers, they’re always taking away other teams’ hits. He’ll take them away. And, frankly, really, really bad things will happen to the Eastern League when he’s pitching. Other lineups will go down very quickly. Very quickly, very, very rapidly.
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