Reese Kaplan -- Four Rookie Horsemen Staving Off the Apocalypse?

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...every Goodtime Charlie's gotta have the blues about something.  

For Mets fans they finally got the first of several wishes on their collective lists when the Invisible Man aka Mark Vientos was allowed to start the game as the team's designated hitter and collected two hits which is more than the collective aggregate of wannabes would get in a week's playing time.  

It suggests that the man who has obliterated AAA pitching for two years might actually be able to contribute to the offense if given the opportunity to do so.  Stories leaked out that Buck Showalter was planning on giving Vientos a three game strech of playing time assumed to be at the DH role, though theoretically it could also mean spelling either Brett Baty at 3B or Pete Alonso at 1B for some of those games.  Still, at-bats were as rare for Vientos as are stolen bases for Daniel Vogelbach.

The other big development for the Mets is the continued progress of young catcher Francisco Alvarez who is starting to show that the hype regarding his offensive prowess was not just exaggeration.  

In Saturday night's game when Alvarez delivered a home run to tie the game he sent it so far out and over the left field fence that it was the very definition of a no-doubter.  When you see Pete Alonso jumping up and down in he dugout in celebration the contrast in their body types is never more evident.  

Alonso is big and imposing while Alvarez is short and stocky.  The end result, however, is prodigious power from the more diminutive catcher and gives the club a nice problem to solve with the upcoming approach of three healthy catchers.

Brett Baty's hitting has had its ups and downs (as has his defense) but even the most jaded of media types and Mets fans can certainly see the raw talent the man possesses.  Although the more highly compensated Eduardo Escobar was forced to the bench to make room for the lefty swinging rookie, the fact is that Baty is showing as he matures into the big league hot corner role that he is here to stay.  

These three rookies have helped demonstrate the value of integrating new talent with existing quality players in order to upgrade the team that takes the field in contention for the NL East pennant.

Now everyone is waiting for the final Fourth Baseball Cap Wearing Horseman of Syracuse to join his trio of already promoted former teammates.  If indeed Vientos will receive some consideration as a DH, then it would appear Ronny Mauricio's role would be as either a second baseman with Jeff McNeil moving permanently to left field, or as a newly minted outfielder with McNeil playing between Alonso and Francisco Lindor.  

Whichever way they choose to go with Mauricio, it would appear as he packed on over 50 pounds of muscle to his previously very skinny frame and his extra base hitting has benefitted immensely. 

Some folks feel that his defensive struggles are the result of position changes forced with him being blocked at shortstop.  Others feel that his new physique is impeding his former flexibility to bend and move as he did in the past.  Regardless, the still-struggling Mets can use an offensive boost to upgrade them over what Mark Canha, Tommy Pham and others have been providing.  

Now if only there was a similar pipeline of pitching talent to fortify the collection of arms that take the mound...