Swaggy V continues to impress.
Prospects, am I right?
For every can’t miss prospect that works out (David Wright), there’s a surefire stud that never lives up to his hype (Paul Wilson), those that become cromulent pieces without superstar status (Kevin Plawecki), those that don’t make it to the bigs at all (Reese Havens), and those unexpected pieces that surprise and delight us all (Jacob deGrom). For his first two seasons with the Mets, Mark Vientos looked more like a Plawecki or a Wilson than a Wright, with many, including this writer and others here at Amazin’ Avenue, thinking he would tap out somewhere along the Dominic Smith/Jarred Kelenic plateau.
Here is some of what was said about Vientos in early 2023, his last year of prospect eligibility, by our prospect writers.
“Vientos is a nice right-handed bat to have in your system. His entire track record suggests that he has a real ability to punish lefties, even if he can still get beaten by better velocity. That’s the positive. The list of negatives are unfortunately a good deal longer; he hits the ball on the ground too often, has good-but-not-great exit velocities, struggles to make contact in the zone, and isn’t really viable defensively anywhere except first. Again, a nice right-handed bat to have in your system (so you don’t have to trade for Darin Ruf), but not a longterm building block and certainly someone that should be tradeable to help the major league side.” – Lukas Vlahos
“Vientos is a, in a word, divisive, prospect. He doesn’t truly have a home defensively, even at first base, and had heavy platoon splits in the minor leagues this year, hitting just .250/.326/.409 against righties compared to .315/.401/.692 against lefties. The right handed hitting will not play in the majors, but there is a path to some highly leverage production from him.” – Thomas Henderson
“A year after his breakout 2021, Vientos had a near-identical season, this time in Triple-A Syracuse instead of Double-A Binghamton. Back in 2018, I compared Vientos to Nolan Gorman and the comparison still stands, with their numbers, strengths, and weaknesses remaining almost identical all these years later- Gorman admittedly has more defensive value, although at second base with St. Louis he is as poor a defender there as Vientos is at third. Given that Vientos’ path to regular playing time at both third base and first are both blocked in the short and long-term future, it will be interesting to see how the Mets use him. The bat is worth getting into the lineup.” – Steve Sypa
Not just by Amazin’ Avenue writers, but overall, this was the perspective of Vientos across the baseball internet: interesting, but likely not a superstar in the making. However, in his third year with a big league at-bat—and his first with over 100 games in the majors—Vientos has proven that he is capable of so much more than many of us thought possible.
In 2024, Vientos put up 3.2 bWAR and an OPS+ of 135 across 111 games. His 27 home runs is third on the team behind Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, and his .844 OPS is second to just Lindor. Not only that, but in the playoffs, Vientos has gone 14/39 with three home runs, two doubles, two walks, and 11 RBIs. His grand slam in yesterday’s 7-3 victory against the Dodgers was the difference maker, both in actuality and in terms of the game’s vibe.
While there is always a chance that this is a one-season blip, Vientos clearly adjusted to MLB pitching this season. From 2023 to 2024, Vientos increased his line-drive rate from 16.8% to 24.4%, his isolated slugging went from .156 to .249, and his walk rate nearly doubled (4.3% to 7.3%).
Now granted, his defense is still not very good. He’s got an above-average arm, but he is both foot slow and slow to react when a ball is hit. There’s every chance that his footwork could improve and that better positioning and routes to balls could come with time, but he’s never going to be Robin Ventura, or possibly even David Wright, at third base.
But if he’s going to slug .500 every year, and if Pete Alonso is back as a Met next year, Vientos will get another chance to prove his worth at third base. I don’t want to go all Billy Beane in Moneyball and saying that he defense doesn’t matter, because it does, but players with his offensive skills will always find ways to play.
There is another way: make him the DH. While I’m not usually an advocate for a 25-year-old designated hitter, if Vientos played a little third and first on days when Alonso and [insert free agent third baseman or Brett Baty if we’re being hopeful here] need a spell, I think Vientos could hold down the position quite well. But with an older team that may need ret and a catcher that, when healthy, hits like a superstar, a more flexible DH position is preferable to giving the role to a young player.
Regardless of what his 2025 and beyond looks like, Vientos’s 2024 has been one of the many wonderful surprises of this remarkable season. Between his Swarvoski cleats, his big smile, or his going full on Michael Jordan in his post-game interview last night, Vientos has been more than just a fun player on the field: he’s been a delight off as well. I’m not sure his emergence is as surprising as David Peterson’s turning into late 90s Jamie Moyer or José Iglesias emerging as not just a viable everyday player but also a Latin pop star, but it is one of the many pieces of this season that will read as even more surprising to future generations than it seems to us today.
Swaggy V appears to be here to stay, and his presence on the club has been just one of the storybook pieces of this improbably, wonderful, Mets season. Let’s see how he finishes writing the story of his season.