Brett Baty keeps making his case for another call-up to the Mets, and it could be tough for the club to ignore soon.
The stud third baseman prospect blasted a grand slam — his second grand slam and fifth home run of the 2023 season — for Triple-A Syracuse against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Friday, giving the Mets a 7-4 lead in the fourth inning en route to their eventual 13-7 win.
Baty, hitting second and playing third base, finished 2-for-5 with five RBIs and a walk, and following the game, his average moved to .433 and his slugging percentage sat at .967.
Syracuse began its fourth inning with Jose Peraza reaching on a fielding error.
Then, after a strikeout, two additional runners reached when Nick Meyer walked and Lorenzo Cedrola singled.
That brought up Baty against Michael Gomez, and he launched the first pitch over the right-field fence.
It marked the second consecutive game where Baty has homered, and he has recorded eight hits throughout the four-game set against the RailRiders at PNC Field.
Baty also led Triple-A in average exit velocity entering Friday’s games, according to SNY, at 100.4 mph, even topping Fernando Tatis Jr. — the Padres star who signed a 14-year, $340 million contract in 2021 — in El Paso.
He dealt with an injury scare 10 days ago when he exited a game against the Rochester Red Wings after he swung, started shaking his hand and later exited.
But what was eventually labeled as a sore right thumb — the same one that required surgery for a torn ligament last year — didn’t lead to any structural damage and just inflammation, allowing Baty to return five days later.
In three of his five games back, Baty has launched a home run, and with parts of the Mets’ lineup continuing to struggle, the 23-year-old could provide a much-needed spark.