![\"Brett](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-mets-brett-baty-122420215.jpg\")
Brett Baty works on drills before a game against the Washington Nationals during Spring Training Clover Field, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Port St. Lucie, FL. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\nPORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 For most of the previous seven seasons, there was hardly ever a question about who would be at first base.<\/p>\n
For better or worse, Pete Alonso was an everyday presence at first base, solid at scooping balls in the dirt, despite lacking range or a strong arm.<\/p>\n
Those days are over and the hole Alonso leaves is clearly felt more in the lineup than in the infield. <\/p>\n
Still, until the Mets prove that some combination of Jorge Polanco, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty can handle the position, there will be curiosity regarding the new-look infield.<\/p>\n
Saturday was another step in that process, as Baty made his first start of the spring at the spot and the lefty swinger \u2014 while not looking like a natural \u2014 at least held his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a fun challenge out there,\u2019\u2019 said Baty, who\u2019d never appeared in a game at first in the majors or minors prior to Saturday\u2019s 3-2 loss to Washington at Clover Park. \u201cThere were no mistakes, but it didn\u2019t look pretty, either. We\u2019ll get better over there, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The overall performance, though, was encouraging, according to Baty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives me confidence [going] into the next game,\u2019\u2019 Baty said.<\/p>\n
Brett Baty works on drills before a game against the Washington Nationals during Spring Training Clover Field, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Port St. Lucie, FL. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
There was a grounder to the right side by Washington\u2019s James Wood that caused Baty to pause only briefly before he headed quickly to first, as second baseman Marcus Semien made the play easily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some things you never see in practice till you get out there and do it in a game,\u2019\u2019 Baty said.<\/p>\n
Speaking of a play like the Wood one in particular, Baty said he chatted with infield instructor Kai Correa and Carlos Mendoza, as part of the learning process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I wanted to go get the ball,\u201d Baty said. \u201cThat\u2019s just how I\u2019ve always been: At third base, go get every ball you can go get. Second base the same thing. Some [balls] I wanted to get and I had to remember Marcus is right behind me and I need to get my butt to first base.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a play he watched his former teammate make plenty of times.<\/p>\n
![\"Brett](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-mets-brett-baty-121653891_8cfdec.jpg\")
Brett Baty fields a ball at first base as Jorge Polanco looks on during Spring Training at Clover Field, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Port St. Lucie, FL. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt Pete was really good at knowing where the second baseman was and his job was just to be at first base,\u2019\u2019 Baty said of Alonso, who departed for Baltimore in the offseason.<\/p>\n
Baty\u2019s spring won\u2019t be limited to just learning the nuances of first base. He\u2019ll also see time in the outfield, with Mendoza saying he\u2019d likely be in right field early on, so that Baty remains on the right side of the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell people I feel like a football receiver out there,\u2019\u2019 Baty said of the outfield. \u201cI can catch fly balls and show off the arm. I like it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mostly, he likes being in the lineup and if all goes according to plan, Baty will see time at first, second and third base, as well as potentially left and right field.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI love tackling adversity,\u2019\u2019 Baty said of the work that goes into becoming a more versatile player. \u201cAny way to get at-bats \u2026 and help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will undoubtedly be bumps in the road for all three first basemen, with Polanco moving from the middle of the infield and Vientos \u2014 who is slated to play third base for Team Nicaragua in the WBC \u2014 having the most experience at the position, with just 12 major league games.<\/p>\n
They have until March 26 to get more comfortable playing the position, with Mendoza noting how many aspects of the game they need to stay on top of at first, from in-between plays, positioning, holding runners and knowing where to be on cutoffs.<\/p>\n
The manager remains confident they will prove to be up to the task.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel comfortable that any of the three can play first base,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said, adding of Baty, \u201cI\u2019d like to continue to get him as many reps as possible. It\u2019s not easy, but he\u2019s embracing the opportunity. He\u2019s up for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 For most of the previous seven seasons, there was hardly ever a question about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[63657,3817,12193,171,173,172,110,20253],"class_list":["post-173525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-brett-baty","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}