Mark Vientos, Photo by Richard Nelson
The New York Mets finally called up highly-regarded prospect Mark Vientos on Saturday. The power hitter is slotted in eighth in the lineup and will be the team’s designated hitter this afternoon against Miami.
It was a long time coming, but the Mets gave their fans what they had long craved by promoting Vientos to the majors after an impressive year at Triple-A. With the offense in a slump prior to Saturday, adding a power bat to the lineup makes a lot of sense. The move makes even more sense with Starling Marte now on the injured list with a fractured right middle finger.
But, just who is Vientos? Allow us to give you the lowdown on the number seven overall prospect in the Mets’ system.
Born on December 11, 1999 in Pembroke Pines, FL, Vientos was drafted in the second round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Mets. Drafted as shortstop, Vientos was quickly moved to third base. However, as he has developed, the prospect has become somewhat without a position due to his struggles at the left-corner infield spot. He is too slow to play in left field and he’s been blocked at first base.
Vientos has always boasted plus-power but he has had to work on harnessing that and he has become known for suffering slow starts every year. He slashed .294/.333/.412 with a .745 OPS in a small sample size with Kingsport in rookie ball in 2017, before slashing .287/.389/.489 (.878 OPS) with 11 home runs, 12 doubles and 52 RBI in 60 games the following year.
After putting up 12 homers and 62 RBI for Columbia in 2019, Vientos was soon promoted to Double-A and he continued to mash in 2021 with a slash line of .281/.346/.580 (.927 OPS) totaling 22 home runs, 16 doubles and 59 RBI. Those exploits at the plate led to a quick call-up to Triple-A and he hasn’t looked back since.
Mark Vientos, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO
After adjusting well to life with Triple-A Syracuse with a slash line of .278/.395/.583/.979 in 11 games last season, Vientos has elevated his game and displayed his pure, scary power this year. The slugger has taken the cover off of baseballs all season long and he has absolutely mashed at a high level.
Prior to his call up, he was hitting .280/.358/.519 with an .877 OPS. He hit 24 home runs with 16 doubles, one triple, 44 walks and 72 RBI. In 101 games for Syracuse, Vientos boasted a 129 wRC+. What makes his season even more impressive, though, is the fact that he had a .569 OPS after the first month of the season (more evidence of the theme of slow starts to the season). With slow starts a trend, Vientos quickly overcame that slump and has been hitting .305/.377/.562 with 12 doubles, 23 homers and 64 RBI since May 3. He earned a trip to the 2022 Futures Game because of his exploits at the plate.
Furthermore, Vientos is playing at the peak of his powers right now given that he was in the midst of a four game hitting streak with two multi-hit games. Over that stretch, he was 6-for-17 (.353) with two walks (.421 OBP), one home run (.529 SLG), and one RBI. Plus, in his final game for Syracuse before being called up, the right-handed bat absolutely destroyed a pitch by blasting it dead center. It was hit so well that it nearly cleared the batter’s eye.
Mark Vientos hit an absolute TANK tonight in Syracuse pic.twitter.com/qOOXLvx1RU
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) September 9, 2022
In another positive for the Mets, and perhaps why they should have called him up a lot earlier, Vientos also mashes against lefties. In 130 plate appearances, he’s hitting .330/.408/.732 with six doubles, 13 homers and 37 RBI against soutpaws. He has only struck out 21.8% of the time against lefties too. With Darin Ruf struggling against left-handed pitching, despite being acquired at the trade deadline for exactly that reason, Vientos could fill that void for the Mets.
In need of some added power in the middle of the lineup, Vientos should give the Mets the extra big bat they have been longing for since the trade deadline. He has taken full advantage of his scary power this season and it seems no matter the level of competition, he’s able to absolutely crush pitches and hit moonshots.
Vientos is coming in hot right now too so it wouldn’t be surprising if he makes an immediate impact in the majors. He plays with a lot of confidence and he’s been called up just to focus on his bat, so that will be a big help as he makes the adjustment to the big leagues.
He does strikeout a lot with a 28.5 K% this season but his pure power and his ability to hit long balls at an insane rate should make up for that. And, as mentioned above, he doesn’t strikeout nearly as much against lefties and he thrives against left-handed pitchers, which makes him an ideal candidate to platoon at the DH spot with Daniel Vogelbach given Ruf’s struggles.
It does seem that the Mets will use Vientos as either a designated hitter or as a pinch hitter. That makes sense given the 22-year-old’s struggles in the field. His glove and his overall play in the field are the weakest parts of his game, but, again, the Mets are calling him up for his bat and his ability to slug at a high level. Vientos has a special, special bat and should fill a big void for this team while being them to help them down the stretch.
The post Get To Know Mark Vientos, The Power-Hitting Righty first appeared on Metsmerized Online.