MARK VIENTOS: "MARK IN AN IRON MASK"...

                               ANGRY MIKE 

For stretches Mark Vientos has been so far away from the action, people began to wonder if he’d been locked away in a dungeon of some sort, similar to DiCaprio’s character in the movie “Man in the Iron Mask”, or in Vientos’ case, he’s “Mark in the Iron Mask”. 

After Vientos’ breakout 2024 season, everyone expected the Mets to make their budding superstar a fixture in the middle of their lineup. Juan Soto is the perfect player to help accelerate Vientos’ development, because anyone who hits around him sees an inordinate number of fastballs. Vientos was our best fastball hitter during the 2024 season, but for whatever reason, the Mets did the opposite of what anyone with common sense expected to happen. If Vientos wasn't hitting in the first 5 spots, that just felt like he was being hidden away in a dungeon for reasons that don't seem to make sense. 

Why?

Every other franchise pairs their best young hitters with their most feared hitters in a lineup, to give their teams the best chance to score runs and accelerate the development of their younger players by providing them with protection in the lineup. 

Do you honestly believe Cubs outfielder "P.C.A." would be putting up the same numbers without Kyle Tucker hitting behind him? No. He would not, and this point will be proven in 2026 after Tucker bolts for the Red Sox during this winter's free agency period.

Arizona pairs Corbin Carroll with Ketel Marte. 

Jackson Chourio is paired with Christian Yelich. 

Junior Caminero is paired with Yandy Diaz. 

Are just a few examples of how franchises like to accelerate the development of potential superstars. Why? Because getting "superstar production" from a player while he is still being paid a "pre-arbitration" salary is how you get ahead in today's M.L.B. Teams readily deploy this operating model after watching a prospect quickly acclimate to major league pitching, the Mets watched Vientos produce "Top-6" numbers for his position during the regular season. 

Vientos also had a legendary postseason, that only a few players his age were able to replicate.

Vientos' postseason numbers were on par, if not better, than the gentlemen who was just handed the richest professional sports contract in HISTORY.

Vientos' 2024 postseason numbers were also better than the player who owns the second richest contract in professional sports, and he also outperformed number of other high-priced established veterans who are considered some of the best hitters in the league.

Like I said, Vientos' 2024 Postseason was nothing short of HISTORIC.

Back to our argument of why Vientos should be featured in the middle of the batting order, specifically right behind our new franchise player, Soto. 

Let's just start checking boxes.

Top-6 production for your position during 2024 regular season production?

Check. 

HISTORIC 2024 postseason production? 

Check. 

Oh wait, the past is the past, and doesn't necessarily make him a fit for the type of player we need to hit behind Soto and in front of Alonso. Exactly what kind of player do we need to fill that role? A player that excels at hitting against an inordinate number of fastballs because of Soto's legendary on-base ability and the threat of having Alonso on-deck, makes the most sense right? Perhaps a player that has the ability to hit with power to all fields?

CHECK.

Wait a minute, maybe we should first see if Vientos is even the best fastball-hitter on the Mets, who cares if he is one of the best fastball-hitters in all of baseball. 

That was your next logical rebuttal right? 

Hard-Hit % that is over 20% higher than Pete and a comparable K% to Alonso. 

CHECK.

Vientos was the only player on the Mets during the 2024 season to homer off of a 101 MPH fastball by Aroldis Chapman, nobody homered off of a faster pitch than that. Still not convinced, go watch the Mets 2024 postseason games against the Brewers and Phillies again. 

CHECK. 

All of this data leads me to ask why didn't we see the lineup below more often. when Vientos checks all the necessary boxes and has a history of success in that role?

F. Lindor

J. Soto

M. Vientos

P. Alonso

B. Nimmo

F. Alvarez

This should have been the easiest portion of the lineup to construct regardless of who they were facing that day. Having Vientos hitting behind Lindor and Soto, with Alonso providing him protection, you’ve now placed your best fastball hitter in a position to feast on an inordinate amount of fastballs. 

Who is one of our hottest hitters in August, with 5 HR, over his last 9 games? 

Vientos. 

Who has provided multiple clutch hits in back-to-back games versus the Phillies?

Vientos. 

Who are the Mets leaning on to compensate for the recent loss of a red-hot Alvarez? 

Vientos. 

Who are the Mets leaning on to help prevent a historic collapse and the most expensive non-playoff team in MLB history? 

Vientos.

2016, Vientos was considered arguably the best high school player in the country, and a sure-fire "Top-5 Pick", drawing comparisons to Manny Machado. He has always had the star-caliber pedigree, and last year he showed he was that type of player against the best teams in the league.

I don't care what is going on between Stearns and Vientos, but I don't really care, here is an easy solution that requires compromise from both sides. 

Stearns should stop trying to outsmart the game. 

Vientos should get a new agent, because Brodie Van "HAIR-GEL" is garbage.

Enough with the analytics crap, and start putting your best players in a position to succeed, by hitting them near each other in the batting order. When you try to outsmart this game, it punches back with a vicious rage that will BLOODY haunt you for years. 

Time to go back to fundamentals and conventional wisdom.