In a NY Post article by Mark Sanchez after the first game series win vs. Philly in early October, Mark hit the mark when he wrote this about Mark:
"It is not just that he posted a .837 OPS with 27 home runs in 111 games; it is that his OPS in a month never fell below .700, the most consistent member of the Mets lineup since he was called up for good.
“His work is very consistent,” co-hitting coach Eric Chavez said this summer about Vientos. “I think the biggest adjustment he’s made is the off speed."
He continued...
"This isn’t like Triple-A, where you get 92 [mph] down the middle and hanging sliders.”
"In his major league chances in 2023, Vientos crushed fastballs but little else. This year, after ramping up the breaking and offspeed pitches he sees during batting practice, he hit .286 with a .531 slugging percentage against offspeed offerings."
Mark had a great off season, too - 5 home runs.
He has elite HR power and swing.
He ended the season (AAA, majors and post season) with 38 HRs and 115 RBIs in 150+ games. Remarkable. And he'd have had more RBIs, as over 40% of his at bats were in the 6th, 7th, and 8th slots in the order. Pete, by comparison, was always in a power/RBI spot in the order.
Here, though, is how I think Vientos might improve - simple - one thing:
Fewer strikeouts.
In September and the playoffs, he fanned 57 times in 37 games.
Clearly that is not good.
Without exhaustive analysis, my sense is he takes far too many first pitch fastballs for strikes.
When you strike out that much, you can't afford to give away “strike one”.
Forget about working the pitcher. There are times where that is worthwhile, as in when a pitcher is clearly wild, but it is to Mark's strikeout disavantage.
For instance, against Michael Kopech in the recent Dodgers series, he took strike one down the middle, and then he eventually struck out swinging on a nasty low-and-outside slider. Had he swung at that first pitch…
In 454 plate regular season appearances in 2024, his at bats on the first pitch ended just 44 times - less than 10%.
By comparison the great Vladimir Guerrero's career plate appearances that ended on the first pitch?
19.6%, or double the rate of Vientos. Vladdy G was up there raking!
And his strikeout rate was far lower than Mark's.
Mark's slash line on first pitch-ending at bats?
.429/.454/.929 on those first pitch-ending at bats. Sweet.
So...that is my unscientific suggestion...don't waste first strike fastballs.
Or gaze at hanging breaking balls.
Swing at them. If you do, the other teams' pitchers will notice that they can't fire a pitch right down Broadway to get ahead in the count, and will start to nibble, leading to more balls on the first pitch, better hitter's counts, more walks, and likely fewer Ks. At least logic would say as much.
Baseball Reference stats showed MV only swung at 30% of first pitches, and while some were balls, many of the bat on shoulder first pitches were undoubtedly hittable called strikes.
Pete Alonso, if he stays, also has the same issue, although he strikes out less than Mark - he still fans a lot, and how many of his strikeouts were on sliders low and away after he took a very hittable fastball early in the count. Doing that could help counteract age-related decline.
It applies to JD Martinez, too, in the unlikely event that he is brought back. He strikes out a ton, too, roughly 30% in 2023 and 2024, and many of those are on low, outside ahead-in-the-count sliders.
Hit earlier fastballs when you can...cut the Ks. And live to swing another day. Or play pickleball instead.
Hopefully, Mark Vientos considers this "amateur advice" for what it is worth.
9 comments:
Good advice.
Jett, Gilbert and Reimer, in hitter-happy AFL, have a combined .362 OBP because of 39 walks in a little over 200 combined PAs, but are hitting only a combined .201 (34 for 169) with 7 HRs (4 by Drew) and 24 RBIs (10 from Reimer). 46 combined Ks, 26 of which belong to Jett.
Batting average-wise, in a ranking of 13 "qualifying" Scottsdale hitters, Jett is 10th, and Drew and Reimer are 12th and 13th. While those 3 hitters are a combined .201, the rest of the team is a combined .295.
Tom
Morning
Sorry. I have never understood your almost obsession with % of strikeouts
So what you are saying a hitter with a tremendous positive return would be a better hitter if could turn s?his strikeouts into ground outs, pop flies, or line-outs?
Makes no sense to me
I tend to agree with Tom. I HATE strikeouts. Any batted ball in play is better than a strikeout, except the outside pitch pulled on the ground to the shortstop for an easy double play. But with a runner on second, a ground ball to the second baseman is a productive out, a flyout with a guy on third is a productive out. Any batted ball has the chance to be a hit. . or an error . .there is no productivity with a strikeout.
So it's allowed to pop up?
Mack, I have seen Vientos take FBs and hanging sliders down Broadway for strike one. I am guessing in part that the team has a strategy to work the pitchers against starters to get into their bullpen. I’m not saying Vientos would have homered on that pitch down the middle. But he might have except he watched it go by. Then he fanned on “let’s get Mark to fish” low and away slider. More than a few of those 57 Ks in 37 games were in that category. I am not saying Vientos should swing at the fist pitch if it is a Seaver at the knees, on the corner, strike. I think he’d hit more HRs and fan less. And be greater.
Of course, he might read this suggesting anrticle and say that guy Brennan is nuts and clueless. He’d have company. My wife already knows that to be the case!
Mack, one more thing. Mark Vientos gets to some sort of 2 strike count in 55% of his 2024 plate appearances.
When he does, his slash line is a miniscule .162/.229/.272.
R69, look at my last 2 comments replying to Mack. I really believe this makes sense for Mark Vientos.
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