The Mets need to know who Mark Vientos is, and 2026 is likely the last opportunity they will have to find out.
Is he the 27 home run impact bat who lit up the 2024 playoffs? Or is he the guy who in ten more plate appearances in 2025 hit ten fewer home runs and saw every offensive rate stat drop precipitously?
If he’s the former, Vientos would be an incredibly useful right-handed designated hitter and sometimes corner infielder who would bolster and deepen the Mets’ lineup. If he’s the latter, he’s at best a part time player and might be a square peg for the club even in that instance.
Vientos was drafted by the Mets in 2017 out of high school and tore up the lower levels of the Mets’ system. As he reached higher levels, Vientos would often start the years cold, but never stopped hitting. This paved the way for call-up in 2022 and 2023, but neither showed much of the prospect that we had raved about year after year.
Never a defensive specialist, this is what our Steve Sypa wrote about him ahead of his MLB call up:
Though initially drafted as a shortstop, Vientos does not have the ability to play up the middle. He was moved to third base in 2018, and at the present is stretched even there. While not unathletic, Vientos is a low-energy guy that lacks explosive quick twitch muscle, resulting in a slow first step and below-average lateral quickness. His average-to-above-average arm and solid instincts allowed him to handle the routine plays fine at third fine initially, but the pace of the game increased as he worked his way up the minor league ladder, and Vientos is a well-below-average defender at third base as a professional at the highest level. He played limited innings in the outfield in 2021 as the Mets explored the best way to give both him and Brett Baty playing time, but the experiment ended and was not resumed in 2022; while there is enough data to make any conclusive, definitive remarks about his ability there, based on how he looked visually along with the fact that he has not played in the outfield at all in 2022, it is safe to conclude that the experiment will not be resumed again. Instead, the Mets actually have shifted Vientos down the defensive spectrum, giving him more play at first base and DH this season than ever before.
Steve was fairly prescient in his write up, as Vientos has struggled mightily in his time in the big leagues. Not only has third base looked downright rough, but the Mets seemingly don’t believe that he’d be much better at first or in a corner outfield spot. His left-handed counterpart, Brett Baty, has proven to be a better defender all over the diamond, and so has more of a roster fit for himself with the Mets.
But that bat! When Vientos is hot, like in late 2024, he’s someone who drives the ball with authority and has impressive natural power. Sure, he strikes out more than you’d like and doesn’t quite walk enough, but those are workable issues if he’s really projecting to hit 30+ home runs over the course of a season.
But we’ve seen more of the cold Vientos than the hot, and there is a limited amount of time that the Mets, or any team, will wait to see if Vientos can consistently produce. If he’s his 2025 self, a slightly below league average hitter with some pop (.233/.289/.413 with an OPS+ of 97), it’ll be hard to justify giving him too much playing time. This is a year where Vientos will likely get some opportunities to show that he can play some first base as well as extended opportunities as a designated hitter. He’s going to get one last shot to show that he can handle big league pitching with any consistency.
If he can do so? The Mets’ lineup gets a right-handed power boost, the Mets have a backup plan if Jorge Polanco can’t make the transition to first, and the fans will get another taste of Swaggy V. That would be a really nice outcome.
If he can’t, and loses at bats to the Mike Tauchmans, the MJ Melendezes, and the Jose Rojases of the world? Then this will likely be his last season as a Met.
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