Even With Mark Vientos’ Harm, the Mets Have a Crowd of Younger Infielders

It’s been a irritating season for Mark Vientos. After two years of making an attempt to stay with the Mets, he broke out by hitting 27 homers in 111 video games final season, and dealt with third base nicely sufficient to look as if he’d locked down an everyday job. But this yr, he’s regressed on each side of the ball, and on Tuesday evening in Los Angeles, he added damage to insult when he strained his proper hamstring. The silver lining is that the 25-year-old slugger will get an opportunity for a reset as soon as he’s wholesome, and in his absence, the Mets have a possibility to kind by their gifted however nonetheless largely unproven assortment of younger infielders.

Vientos’ damage occurred within the high of the tenth inning in Monday evening’s opener of a four-game NLCS rematch between the Mets and Dodgers in Los Angeles; the collection was an thrilling one stuffed with late-inning lead modifications, with the 2 groups rising with a cut up and three video games determined by one run. Los Angeles had tied Monday’s sport within the backside of the ninth on a Shohei Ohtani sacrifice fly, and New York answered by scoring runs with back-to-back hits to start out the tenth. With two outs and runners on the corners, Vientos had an opportunity to interrupt the sport open. He’d been hitting the ball arduous these days however not getting nice outcomes, and when he smoked a 97-mph grounder to the proper of shortstop Hyeseong Kim, it seemed to be extra of the identical. Kim reached the ball earlier than it cleared the infield, however his throw to first base was an off-line one-hopper. It didn’t matter, as Vientos had fallen down earlier than making it midway down the road, as a result of his proper hamstring seized up.

On Tuesday, the Mets positioned Vientos on the injured record and despatched him again to New York to find out the severity of the damage. Supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned on Wednesday that Vientos has a low-grade hamstring pressure and is anticipated to obtain remedy for 10-14 days earlier than resuming baseball actions. To interchange him on the roster, the Mets recalled 24-year-old Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse. The previous Prime 100 prospect (no. 44 in 2022, and no. 90 in ’23, each as a 50-FV prospect) missed all of final season because of a proper anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered throughout winter ball in February 2024. Extra on him under, however first, Vientos’ struggles are price a more in-depth look.

A second-round draft pick of a Florida highschool in 2017, Vientos debuted within the majors in September 2022, and grazed the decrease reaches of the Prime 100 the next yr, as soon as his protection at third base improved sufficient to spice up his prospect grade to a 50 FV. After hitting a mixed .205/.255/.354 (68 wRC+) with 10 homers in 81 video games with the Mets in 2022 and ’23, Vientos started final season with Syracuse and made a quick foray to Queens in late April earlier than being recalled for good in mid-Might. The plan was for him to platoon with Brett Baty, however by the top of the month, he had claimed the full-time job, and his efficiency helped flip the Mets’ season round after their 24-35 begin.

Vientos completed with a .266/.322/.516 line and a 133 wRC+, good for third on the group behind Francisco Lindor and (shockingly) Jose Iglesias. He was subpar defensively (-4 FRV and -6 DRS in 880 1/3 innings) however nonetheless completed with 2.9 WAR. This yr, it’s been a distinct story, as he’s sputtered to a .230/.298/.380 (93 wRC+) line and has been dreadful in 341 innings within the subject; his -8 DRS is the bottom mark amongst all third basemen, whereas his -5 FRV is second worst.

A pair issues stand out. Vientos isn’t swinging as arduous as he did final yr, along with his common bat pace dropping from 71.8 mph to 70.4, and his quick swing fee dropping from 20.6% to 9%; whereas his squared-up fee has elevated barely, his blast fee has fallen from 13% to 9.6%. His bat is slower to the ball, he’s connecting a bit later (his common intercept has moved again a few inches), and his assault course has elevated from 1 diploma to three — on the opposite-field aspect, not the pull aspect. Which means he’s more likely to pull the ball much less typically, and certainly, his total pull fee has dropped from 36% to 30.7% and his pulled air fee from 15.2% to 12.9%.

Consequently, Vientos’ common exit velocity and hard-hit fee are each down a bit (from 91.2 mph to 90.7 for the previous, and from 46.6% to 45.7%), his barrel fee has been halved (from 14.1% to 7.1%) and his xSLG has plummeted from a sturdy .463 to a mediocre .376. These days he hasn’t had a lot to point out for his arduous contact, however total, his anticipated and precise numbers are proper in line, suggesting he has work to do to rebound as soon as he’s wholesome. A minor league rehab stint might assist, however he’s the one considered one of this group who’s out of choices.

Mauricio, a switch-hitter now listed at 6-foot-4 and 166 kilos, performed 26 video games with the Mets in 2023, hitting .248/.296/.347 (79 wRC+) in 108 plate appearances in a September cup of espresso. After starting this season on the IL, he went out on a rehab project on April 27, and performed 5 video games apiece at A-level St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, then 9 at Syracuse, typically splitting time between second and third with a little bit of shortstop and DH obligation as nicely. He was on hearth at Syracuse (.515/.564/.818 in 39 PA), and between his sizzling bat and Vientos’ damage, the Mets accelerated their plans although he hadn’t performed greater than two video games in a row. He began at third base on Tuesday and Wednesday, going 0-for-8 with three strikeouts.

Selectivity and make contact with are actual points for Mauricio. Whereas he has 70-grade uncooked energy and has hit as many as 26 homers in a season, his hit software grades at simply 30. He’s chased 44.3% of pitches exterior the strike zone in his temporary main league profession and struck out in 29.3% of his plate appearances. The low level was his putting out in opposition to Clayton Kershaw on a 59-foot curveball on Tuesday — profession strikeout no. 2,976 for the long run Corridor of Famer.

Stated Mendoza afterward:

“We perceive that’s an space the place he wants to enhance. We’ll see him chase, particularly with how good the pitching is right here on the huge league stage. That’s why I’m saying, we gotta be affected person with him… We additionally know that there’s affect there. And he’s going to be aggressive. That’s a part of what makes him who he’s. He’s going to go on the market, and he’s going to hack.”

Right here’s a part of what Eric Longenhagen wrote about Mauricio in an replace so contemporary the pixels haven’t dried:

This can be a huge-framed switch-hitting shortstop with energy from each side of the plate and a rocket arm, however his swing choices are sometimes so reckless that although he’s met expectations since his high-profile novice signing, he’s nonetheless a particularly unstable prospect. Mauricio has traditionally had chase charges close to 40%, and issues have been no completely different thus far in 2025. He has a profession .313 OBP within the minors and is more likely to be a streaky, feast-or-famine hitter in the course of the course of his profession. His secondary pitch recognition isn’t good, and he’s very susceptible to mushy stuff on the backside of the zone and under. There are some gamers who’re as aggressive as Mauricio (or extra so) who discover a option to be affect huge leaguers anyway, and nearly all of them are likely to make at the least a mean fee of in-zone contact and have energy. Ronny Mo is on the very fringe of viability on this respect, with in-zone contact charges of 83-85% throughout his previous couple of wholesome seasons, which is correct round what profitable low-OBP hitters like Ozzie Albies and Jonathan Schoop have proven. A typical efficiency for Mauricio tasks like juiced ball-era Freddy Galvis: a low OBP with 25-30 homers and plus infield protection.

The protection a part of Mauricio’s sport is a tad rusty proper now, which is not any shock coming off the torn ACL. He’s largely performed second base thus far in 2025, however doesn’t at all times look comfy making the lengthy vary performs requested at that place. He isn’t apt to go to the bottom to make performs, and as an alternative depends on his arm to scrub up the mess of his footwork. At third base, he’s a fish in water, as an excellent share of performs are in entrance of him, and after they aren’t, he has the arm to hose guys from the outlet. He’s simply the very best third base defender on the 40-man roster, and he stays viable at shortstop.

The plan for now’s for Maurico to separate time at second, third, and DH with out the Mets overworking him. Platoon-wise, he’s stronger in opposition to righties, so within the absence of Jesse Winker (who’s been sidelined since early Might by an indirect pressure) he might share time with Starling Marte at DH.

Like Vientos, Baty — a 2019 first-round decide, and the one one of many bunch that Longenhagen graded as a 55-FV prospect (2023, when he was no. 23 on our Prime 100) — has been up and down a good bit. Although he’s performed as many as 108 video games with the Mets in a single season (2023), he’s frolicked at Syracuse in every of the previous 4 campaigns. After hitting .229/.306/.327 (83 wRC+) in 50 video games final yr, he didn’t get one other probability with the Mets after June 9, however at Syracuse he took up second base, a place he’d by no means performed professionally. With Jeff McNeil sidelined by a strained indirect to start out this season, Baty acquired to strive the brand new place within the majors, and he’s dealt with each the keystone and the recent nook nicely when given the possibility. That mentioned, he made an important error within the eighth inning of Thursday’s 6-5 loss, with a poor throw residence on an Andy Pages grounder that allowed Will Smith to attain the tying run.

Baty didn’t hit a lot on the outset of the season, so when McNeil returned from the IL, he misplaced the numbers sport; he truly hit his first homer of the season on April 23, his last sport earlier than being optioned. His efficiency since returning on Might 7 has been uneven, as he’s been in a funk for the previous two weeks, however his numbers have improved:

These strikeout and stroll charges are ugly, and Baty’s 82.8% zone contact fee is bottom-quartile stuff. Nonetheless, he’s been barreling the ball greater than twice as typically since returning, and his anticipated numbers counsel he may very well be much more productive:

Baty is swinging arduous, averaging 75.9 mph, up 2.4 mph from final yr and on par with late 2023, not that it did him any good then. Relative to final yr, he’s opened his stance a bit (from 4 levels to eight), and he’s flattened the lean of his swing barely (from 38 levels to 35), however his angle of assault has shifted from 1 diploma pull to three levels oppo. Since returning, he’s pulling the ball nearly as typically as he did final yr (42.9%), and his latest pulled air fee is larger than it was final yr (17.8%). The samples are sufficiently small, and that post-promotion .301 OBP is just not terribly convincing, however he’s the one lefty of this group and the one producing at league common. That’ll earn him taking part in time.

In his notes, Longenhagen provided a quick evaluation of Baty: “I don’t assume he seems to be nice. Sluggish-of-foot defender with good actions, some inaccurate throws. His swing has big effort, it was at all times fairly lengthy. I’ll have been too heavy on him by a couple of grade.” He positioned Baty fourth on his private desire record, behind Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña, and Vientos.

Acuña has essentially the most title recognition of the bunch because the youthful brother of famous person Ronald Acuña Jr. The one one of many 4 not initially drafted or signed by the Mets, he arrived from the Rangers — who signed him out of Venezuela on July 2, 2018 — within the 2023 deadline deal for Max Scherzer. A forty five-FV prospect who’s listed at 5-foot-8 and 181 kilos, he has plus pace, above-average uncooked energy and the power to play each infield place besides first base, and he even has 31 video games of Triple-A expertise in heart subject, although within the absence of Jose Siri, Mendoza has solely deployed him there for a two-inning cameo.

Acuña has extra begins at second base (32) than Baty and McNeil mixed (15 apiece), although his taking part in time and offense have each receded. He’s began simply eight of the group’s final 20 video games — together with Thursday at shortstop rather than Lindor, who’s day-to-day after struggling a damaged proper pinky toe — going 4-for-31 to tug his total batting line to .244/.295/.289 (69 wRC+). He’s tied with Lindor for the group lead in stolen bases with 11, which suggests a tactical function come October, but when Mauricio catches on, Acuña may very well be Syracuse-bound.

For all the promise of those gamers, McNeil is hardly a bystander. He’s coming off two league-average-ish seasons, however by his first 111 plate appearances of 2025, he’s slapping his option to a .237/.342/.441 (118 wRC+) line regardless of a 3.1% barrel fee and a .394 xSLG. Even given some regression and his latest struggles in opposition to lefties, that manufacturing — and the flexibility that has allowed him to play 44 1/3 innings in left subject and 43 in heart — isn’t simply dismissed. For a group with championship aspirations, this sort of depth is a superb factor to have, and it might come in useful when the Mets method this yr’s commerce deadline. For now, they’ll preserve biking by their choices.