Mets' Brett Baty keeping focus amid recent power surge

Young New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty is remaining focused amid signs he's righting the ship this summer. 

"I try to be the same guy every single day, come in and work really hard and just go out there and compete," Baty told reporters after he homered for the second consecutive game and helped the Mets earn a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday evening, per Phillip Martinez of SNY. "When I come in here it’s a new day. Like tomorrow, I’m going to come in here and I’m going to work hard. I’m going to go out there and compete." 

Baty's lowlight-reel error against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend likely will be replayed among MLB bloopers for years to come, and the 23-year-old began the midweek slashing .239/.307/.344 with five home runs and 21 RBIs this season. Star shortstop Francisco Lindor recently told reporters about how he had taken Baty under his wing, and whatever Lindor said and/or did had a positive impact. 

Baty went deep and drove home three runs across the first two games against the White Sox, but he insisted Wednesday night that neither the good nor bad stretches go to his head too much. 

"We play a really long season in this game," Baty explained while sounding wise beyond his years. "I’m going to be the same guy every single day. No matter if I go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, make three errors in the field, I’m going to come in the next day and work my a-- off. And I'm gonna try to be the best player I can be out there." 

The 45-50 Mets reportedly want to wait until the 11th hour to see if they can avoid becoming sellers ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline by accumulating wins over the next week. New York entered the Thursday afternoon game against Chicago seven games back in the race for a wild-card berth, but the big-spending club hopes Baty can be a significant part of a turnaround that keeps the Mets at least in the playoff conversation through September.