We love a postseason breakout star. September’s hipster favourite who by November 1 is on billboards from sea to shining sea. This yr, it’s Mets third baseman Mark Vientos, a 24-year-old who simply accomplished his first full season as a serious league common.
The highest 4 hitters within the Mets lineup have been completely essential this postseason, by which I imply that in the event that they’re not hitting, ain’t no one hitting. Three of these prime 4 hitters are the three highest-paid gamers on the roster by luxurious tax hit: Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso. (Starling Marte and Edwin Díaz make greater than Nimmo and Alonso this yr particularly, and the Mets paid Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander greater than $20.5 million every to play for different groups, however I’m making a degree right here. Let me cherry-pick in peace.)
Lindor, Nimmo, and Alonso are as veteran-y because it will get; Lindor’s about to enter his second decade as a famous person, whereas Nimmo and Alonso are Mets lifers. And New York had no scarcity of comparable choices to fill that no. 2 gap within the order, however Marte, Jeff McNeil, and J.D. Martinez have all been some mixture of too damage, too previous, or too platoon-sensitive.
So the Mets wanted a younger man. And even then, Vientos wasn’t the primary selection amongst third basemen with late-1999 birthdays. Brett Baty, the Mets’ 2019 first-rounder, obtained the primary crack on the job, and proved himself utterly insufficient to the duty, hitting .215/.282/.325 over components of three seasons.
By mid-Might, that was untenable, and Vientos — regardless of issues over his hit instrument and his propensity to protect the new nook in a approach that makes you need to purchase him a primary baseman’s mitt — took over. By mid-August, he was slugging over .500 and had labored his approach into the two-hole. Since August 15, Vientos has began 48 video games, together with the postseason, and hit within the first 4 spots within the lineup 44 occasions.
The truth that Vientos wasn’t the primary selection for his place makes him all of the extra alluring to his public. It’s very in conserving for a staff that positions itself (credibly or not) as an underdog. Furthermore, Vientos supplies an invigorating jolt of chaotic power to the second-oldest place participant group within the league.
Lindor, Nimmo, and Alonso may be thought-about expressive, even gauche, by Yankees requirements, however in comparison with the cores of another NL contenders, they’re fairly staid and businesslike. The insouciant 22-year-old Lindor we bear in mind from his 2016 World Sequence journey is now a dad with a foul again. Time comes for everybody. Vientos’ teammates have began calling him “Swaggy V,” which speaks not solely to his persona, however to the typical age of the clubhouse. It’s a nickname that’s as attribute of Geriatric Millennials as “Whitey” was of Silent Era ballplayers.
However power solely will get you to this point, they usually don’t give cool nicknames out to scrubs. Amongst gamers with a minimum of 20 plate appearances this postseason, Vientos is fifth in wRC+. He leads all gamers in hits and RBI, and is tied for second in dwelling runs and third in runs scored. I do need to be barely extra scientific about how he obtained there than “he has good vibes,” so let’s have a look at his plate self-discipline numbers this postseason versus these of all the league.
Mark Vientos’ Plate Self-discipline vs. League Common
| League | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole | 100% | 48.8% | 16.9% | .222 | .296 | .348 | .286 | .324 |
| Out | 52.3% | 30.8% | 6.2% | .110 | .348 | .142 | .265 | .279 |
| In | 47.7% | 68.5% | 28.7% | .267 | .267 | .432 | .297 | .349 |
| Coronary heart | 25.3% | 73.9% | 34.0% | .303 | .300 | .509 | .343 | .399 |
| Shadow | 42.7% | 55.7% | 17.8% | .194 | .247 | .280 | .235 | .267 |
| Chase | 22.4% | 25.1% | 3.2% | .050 | .370 | .055 | .263 | .285 |
| Waste | 9.7% | 7.7% | 0.1% | .027 | .556 | .027 | .390 | .383 |
| Whole | 100% | 51.9% | 15.6% | .378 | .410 | .676 | .461 | .363 |
| Out | 48.7% | 30.7% | 4.0% | .200 | .333 | .500 | .359 | .281 |
| In | 51.3% | 72.2% | 26.6% | .444 | .444 | .741 | .506 | .399 |
| Coronary heart | 27.3% | 81.0% | 40.5% | .611 | .611 | 1.056 | .710 | .522 |
| Shadow | 39.0% | 55.0% | 10.0% | .154 | .154 | .385 | .225 | .191 |
| Chase | 24.0% | 35.1% | 2.7% | .167 | .375 | .167 | .282 | .284 |
| Waste | 9.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
Present by 10/14
From these numbers, we are able to draw three conclusions. First, Vientos is having fairly a little bit of batted ball luck. Stunning, I do know, for a hitter who’s having the 2 greatest weeks of his life in opposition to playoff-quality opposition.
However Vientos is making good swing selections. He’s barely extra aggressive than league common normally, however he’s rather more aggressive each throughout the strike zone and within the heart of the strike zone — Baseball Savant’s Coronary heart assault zone. (Not the Coronary heart Assault Zone, that’s a special factor.) On pitches within the meaty a part of the zone, Vientos is doing severe harm, together with his batting common, slugging share, and wOBA all roughly twice the league common. Perhaps that’s inflated by some batted ball luck, or perhaps it’s inflated by his grand slam off Landon Knack in Recreation 2 of the NLCS.
MARK VIENTOS GRAND SLAM!! ?
? Watch in 4K on the FOX Sports activities App: https://t.co/XsQfq9r1dc pic.twitter.com/qjDR4G5jzB
— FOX Sports activities: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 14, 2024
This pitch has some first rate run on it, but it surely finally ends up proper in the midst of the zone. Any competent large league hitter goes to hit this ball arduous, and any hitter with as a lot energy as Vientos goes to place it within the seats.
Often. As a result of Vientos continues to be swinging and lacking rather a lot. He’s struck out 13 occasions in 39 plate appearances, which isn’t good by anybody’s requirements. However the place he’s swinging and lacking pursuits me. Vientos is swinging at pitches in the midst of the zone extra often than league common, and placing the ball in play on a higher share of these swings. However across the edges of the zone, he’s making contact on simply over half as many pitches because the league common, and he’s swinging at pitches within the Chase zone 10 share factors extra often than common, whereas making contact on a decrease share of these swings.
So he’s chasing extra, which is unhealthy. And he’s swinging and lacking when he does chase, which can also be unhealthy. Or is it? When a hitter will get fooled and swings, nothing good goes to occur, however when Vientos will get fooled, he misses. Generally meaning a strikeout, however earlier within the depend it means he will get one other shot, as an alternative of popping up or hitting weak grounders. There are worse issues you are able to do than swing and miss. Vientos is both going to sq. a pitch up or miss it altogether.
And even then, all the pieces goes Vientos’ approach. He’s put one ball from the Chase zone in play this postseason. It was a self-defense swing on an inside sinker from Zack Wheeler in Recreation 1 of the NLDS. And that? He was in a position to get his fingers contained in the ball and yank it into left subject for a single. Not the prettiest swing of his profession, but it surely’s a line drive within the field rating.
Which raises the query: What is the prettiest swing of Vientos’ profession? Nicely I can inform you essentially the most spectacular swing of this postseason. It got here one evening after that single off Wheeler, when Vientos hit a game-tying ninth-inning dwelling run off Matt Strahm.
About seven weeks in the past, Anthony Santander hit a game-winning grand slam off Bryan Abreu that modified my life. Santander obtained round a 98-mph fastball above the zone and over the skin a part of the plate, precisely the type of pitch you’re speculated to both take for a ball or inside-out the opposite approach for a single. And one way or the other Santander had the energy and bat velocity to show it round for a 403-foot dwelling run to the pull aspect.
Ever since then, I’ve been obsessive about dwelling runs like this, pull-side dingers off fastballs excessive and away. As I write, there have been 5,512 dwelling runs hit in aggressive main league video games in 2024 — common season and playoffs mixed — of which solely 35 have been pull-side homers off fastballs away and above the zone. Santander’s was one; Vientos’ blast off Strahm was one in every of its very uncommon cousins.
To be clear, this was ball 4. The savvy factor to do, the veteran factor to do, would’ve been to put off it. To place the tying run on base with one out and the no. 3 and no. 4 hitters arising in opposition to a reliever whose relationship with the strike zone had deteriorated to the purpose the place he was leaving pleading three-minute messages on the strike zone’s voicemail.
Or you possibly can simply minimize out the center man and tie the sport straight away. Don’t do this at dwelling, until you’re swinging the most popular bat in baseball.
