Anytime the New York Mets have a third baseman come up, they will always have big shoes to fill after David Wright’s incredible career with New York. However, Mark Vientos has the potential to be a mainstay with the Mets but will be competing against teammate Brett Batyto become the Mets third basemen of the future.
Vientos was drafted out of American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, Florida, in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft. He quickly agreed to a contract with the club for $1.5 million dollars, a little over the projected slot value for the pick of 1.094 million.
Strengths
One area that gives the Mets hopes is his power. While he still has the potential to gain more muscle, Vientos can drive the ball to all areas of the field. He finished 2019 with the lowest ground ball ratio while playing with Low A Colombia. Vientos also possesses a cannon of an arm at third base.
“He can really impact the baseball,” Mets director of player development Jared Banner told Baseball America in August. “It’s impressive the power he has the other way. You don’t see that in a lot of kids his age. That definitely sticks out. I think we just focus on keeping him through the middle of the field, keeping him confident and trusting himself at the plate with a quality approach, just swinging at pitches he should swing at and taking pitches he should take.”
Weakness
Vientos is coming off a disappointing 2019 season, which could delay his jump to the MLB. Drafted as a shortstop, Vientos shifted to third but has had trouble fielding at the hot corner. He is slow to react with his first step and has plenty of room for improvement.
Offensively, he tends to get long with his swing, which hurts his ability to put the ball in play. His strikeout numbers have increased while his walks have declined, which set him back. He was the number three ranked prospect coming into last season.
Statistics
Throughout his minor league career, he has never hit over .300 in any professional season. He is a lifetime .265 hitter but has hit 27 home runs and has driven in 140 RBI’s in three seasons. He also has a .389 on-base percentage after walking 37 times during his 2018 season with the Kingsport Mets.
Comparison
Given that he has yet to play over A-ball, Vientos’ debut most likely won’t come for a couple of seasons. He compares well to someone like Manny Machado, as both came up as shortstops but will become third baseman in the big leagues.
Despite becoming a bit of a forgotten man after a couple of average minor league seasons, 2021 will be a big year for him. With no minor league season in 2020, Vientos will be hindered like many of the younger players looking to make it to the majors.
It will be interesting as well to see how both Baty and Vientos travel through the farm system. Baty is the more known prospect, but that doesn’t always lead to the most success.
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