{"id":42413,"date":"2025-03-19T06:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T06:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413"},"modified":"2025-03-19T06:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T06:37:13","slug":"breaking-mets-star-says-spring-training-standout-is-embracing-the-challenge-of-learning-second-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mets
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New York Mets\u2018 Brett Baty has always been a third baseman at heart. It\u2019s his natural position, the one where he\u2019s logged countless hours perfecting his craft. Sure, he\u2019s dabbled in left field and even had a few reps at second, but the hot corner has always been home. Now, however, circumstances are forcing him to step outside his comfort zone, and he\u2019s embracing the challenge head-on.<\/p>\n

With Jeff McNeil likely starting the season on the injured list, the Mets\u2019 second base job is suddenly up for grabs. Three names stand out in the competition: Donovan Walton, Luisangel Acu\u00f1a, and Baty. While Walton and Acu\u00f1a have more experience in the middle infield, Baty is the wild card\u2014a natural third baseman trying to prove he can handle a completely different defensive responsibility.<\/p>\n

A Crash Course in Second Base<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Switching from third base to second isn\u2019t just about shifting a few feet to the right. It\u2019s a whole different ballgame. The angles are different, double-play footwork is crucial, and communication with the shortstop is constant. As Mets manager Carlos Mendoza put it, there\u2019s only so much you can simulate in practice. The real learning happens in game action, and that\u2019s exactly where Baty is earning his stripes.<\/p>\n

\"Mets
Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be involved in a lot more plays every pitch,\u201d Mendoza explained, per SNY. \u201cThere\u2019s only so much that you can replicate just by hitting him ground balls. He needs game action, and that\u2019s some of the things that we\u2019re going to be looking at and we\u2019ll use those opportunities for teaching moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baty may be new to the position, but his work ethic is undeniable. He\u2019s putting in extra reps, absorbing every lesson, and making real strides in a role that doesn\u2019t come naturally to him.<\/p>\n

Learning from the Best<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If there\u2019s one silver lining in this experiment, it\u2019s that Baty has an elite mentor at his side\u2014Francisco Lindor. The Mets\u2019 star shortstop has seen firsthand the adjustments Baty is making, and he\u2019s been impressed with the progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks good,\u201d Lindor said. \u201cHe looks like he\u2019s starting to feel comfortable and he looks like he\u2019s embracing the challenge. That\u2019s all you can ask for. He is ready for whatever comes his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mets
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That praise isn\u2019t just empty words. In a recent game, Baty started a double play, made two smooth plays moving to his left, and even pulled off a running throw while waiting for the pitcher to cover first base. Those are the kinds of instinctual, quick-twitch plays that separate a passable second baseman from a liability, and Baty is proving he\u2019s capable of handling them.<\/p>\n

Can Baty Win the Job?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The bat is already there\u2014his .910 OPS in spring training is proof of that. Now, it\u2019s just a matter of whether his defense at second can be good enough to justify keeping his bat in the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing early work pretty much every day, just trying to get the footwork and stuff down on some double play turns,\u201d Baty said.<\/p>\n

That dedication could make all the difference. If he shows he can hold his own defensively, the Mets might have found their best option at second base while McNeil recovers. It\u2019s not the role Baty envisioned for himself, but baseball has a funny way of rewarding those willing to adapt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty is embracing the challenge of learning second base because it could mean a ticket to regular playing time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty is embracing the challenge of learning second base because it could mean a ticket to regular playing time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\",\"name\":\"MsNga\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsNga\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA","og_description":"New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty is embracing the challenge of learning second base because it could mean a ticket to regular playing time","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1600,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsNga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsNga"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413","name":"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-19T06:37:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-119.jpg","width":1600,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42413#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Mets star says spring training standout is \u2019embracing the challenge\u2019 of learning second base"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37","name":"MsNga","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsNga"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42415,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413\/revisions\/42415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}