It was no secret that spring training was going to be vital for Brett Baty in terms of proving he should crack the Opening Day roster for the Mets.

He’s off to a strong start.

With the Mets holding an intra-squad game on Friday before the real Grapefruit League action begins on Saturday, Baty had an early opportunity to impress and he did exactly that.

Facing Joey Lucchesi – who is on the comeback trail after Tommy John Surgery – Baty led off the game with a bloop single that went over the head of Francisco Lindor. It demonstrated Baty’s ability to make good, hard contact and put the ball into play at a high-end level.

That wasn’t the highlight of the afternoon for Baty, however.

He would go on to hit a RBI double with a really impressive blast to the left-center wall that split the two outfielders. It drove in DJ Stewart for a run and again highlighted Baty’s hitting abilities. The third baseman would then come around to score on Lorenzo Cedrola‘s single as the blue team got the 3-0 win.

“It was a fly ball that went where we couldn’t catch it,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “It was good. It was off a left-handed pitcher. Brett’s good, he’s in a good place.”

Baty is known for his offensive prowess and he showed in a small sample size in 2022 that he can hit in the big leagues, despite some growing pains. He blasted his first home run in his first major league at-bat and he would hit two homers in total in 42 plate appearances before thumb surgery cost him the rest of the 2022 season.

The highly-ranked prospect has then had to deal with constant questions about his role in 2023. He was even involved in possible trade talks with the Miami Marlins interested in the wake of the Carlos Correa saga. After Correa eventually returned to the Minnesota Twins, it then appeared likely that Baty would begin the year back in Triple-A and eventually work his way into a platoon role with veteran Eduardo Escobar at third base.

However, Baty emerged as the best player in the Mets’ intra-squad game on Friday and, although a very small sample size, he could make the Opening Day roster if he can continue hitting like he did throughout spring training. Baty has a higher ceiling offensively than Escobar at the hot corner, and if he can consistently make hard contact with the ball and make things happen at the plate, it might prove difficult for the front office to send him down.

The only real question mark that remains when it comes to Baty’s game is his defense. It proved to be a tough adjustment in the majors last year and that will be something the front office will be keeping a close eye on throughout spring. But, if Baty, who is in the lineup for the Mets’ Grapefruit League opener against the Houston Astros at 1:05 P.M. on Saturday, can show improvement in the field and be consistent at the plate and hit like he did on Friday, then it is fair to assume he’ll be sticking around in the majors.