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Mets need to figure out how to get young star comfortable on the road

Originally posted on New York Mets on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Aug 14, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The New York Mets are currently working through several options when it comes to who their regular third baseman is going to be, not only down the stretch in 2025, but in the coming years as well.

The team has been rotating through three options this season: Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio. One of those three have started all but one game at the hot corner for the Mets this season; Luisangel Acuña has one start at third base.

Each of them brings something to the table worth exploring for the Mets. Last year, Vientos was a huge part of the team’s run to the postseason and advancing to the NLCS with impressive power numbers. He had an .837 OPS last year but that has plummeted to .641, with his OPS+ going from 134 to 83.

Mauricio, one of the organization’s top prospect for years, is already one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball despite logging only 228 innings there in 2025. He has already racked up +6 Outs Above Average despite the limited playing time.

New York can get a little bit of both of those strengths in one player when it comes to Baty, who has turned into a solid defender at the hot corner the last two years and provides some pop from the left side of the plate.

Brett Baty has insane home/road splits for Mets

Alas, that does come with a caveat: Baty only performs at a high level, at least with the bat, when he is playing at Citi Field. When he heads on the road, he turns into a different player, for the worse, creating some wild splits.

Through August 12, Baty has 164 plate appearances at home and is producing some eye-opening numbers. He has a .293/.356/.558 slash line with 11 home runs, four doubles, one triple and 28 RBI to go along with three stolen bases. His tOPS+ and sOPS+ are at 156 and 147, both elite numbers.

But away from Citi Field, the youngster turns into a totally different player, looking like someone who shouldn’t even be on a major league roster. During away games, he has 140 plate appearances with an abysmal .163/.214/.264 slash line, hitting only two home runs with five doubles and one triple, 10 RBI, and two stolen bases. His tOPS+ and sOPS+ are both well below replacement level at 37 and 36 as well.

There isn’t anything Baty is doing better when on the road than at Citi Field. Even his walk and strikeout rates are improved at home with 8.5% and 23.2% respectively when at home and 6.4% and 25.7% elsewhere.

If the Mets could figure out a way to get him as comfortable performing in road games as he is at home, they would have a clear-cut answer of who should be in the lineup for a majority of the games.

This isn’t a one-off only in 2025, either. In his career, Baty has an OPS more than 250 points better at Citi Field than on the road, with a .771 and .517. Figuring out how to become more consistent on the road is key to unlocking him as a set-in-stone everyday starter.

This article first appeared on New York Mets on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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