Baty hopes for smoother ride in 2024

PORT ST. LUCIE — Brett Baty may have spent too much time focusing on his good and bad days last season instead of just forgetting about them.

It’s a lesson learned as he looks to show the Mets he’s worthy of serving as the team’s full-time third baseman. Baty, 24, worked on improving his physical tools over the winter, but also his mindset.

He wants to avoid the “roller coaster” he rode last year.

“It’s just coming to the field and knowing you are the best person on the field every day, knowing that and believing that,” Baty said Thursday following a workout at Clover Park. “I just see all these guys come in here, and when they come in here the next day, the past day they had, whether it was a failure or success, they are not thinking about that. They are thinking about what they have to do that night. I have to do a better job with that this year.”

Baty struggled offensively and defensively last season, leaving a giant question mark at third base as camp begins. The Mets are also evaluating Mark Vientos at the position, but the job will likely be Baty’s to lose.

“Competition is great, I think it makes everybody better,” Baty said. “Any way we can make this ball club better, I am for it.”

Last year Baty owned a .212/.275/ .323 slash line with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 108 games. Defensively, he ranked only in MLB’s 15th percentile at third base, according to Statcast, with minus-four outs above average.

Baty said he took struggles at the plate into the field last season.

“The veteran guys are really good at differentiating the different parts of the game,” Baty said. “They’ll have a really good game offensively and a real bad game defensively, but they are not together at all, so I think I need to learn that level of consistency from them.”

➤ Edwin Diaz threw live batting practice, facing three batters. It was his first time facing batters since tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee last March at the World Baseball Classic.

The Mets closer topped out at 96 mph and also displayed his slider during Thursday’s session.

“I was pretty pleased,” Diaz said. “This was a big step for us, and I can’t wait to keep going forward.”