The New York Mets had a lot of bad drafts under Sandy Alderson’s watch, but his last couple are beginning to show some fruit. Alderson’s final first round choice, high school outfielder Jarred Kelenic, tore up the Gulf Coast League so much that he earned a very quick promotion to Kingsport. Kelenic has cooled off a bit since his promotion, but one of his teenage teammates has really been ripping the cover off the ball of late. That man is third baseman Mark Vientos, and he is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
Vientos, the Mets’ second round pick a year ago out of American Heritage High School in Florida, has been destroying Appalachian League pitching for the past few weeks. Over the last 10 days, Vientos has gone 11 for 36 (.305) with two doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI’s, and nine runs scored. Vientos has had a solid year for Kingsport, batting .262 with six homers and 28 RBI’s, having already exceeded his total numbers in both counting statistics from last year despite playing in 21 fewer games.
Scouts are very high on Vientos, who is rated as the team’s 10th best prospect according to MLB.com’s rankings. Vientos, who is just 18 years old, has drawn high marks for his ability to hit for average and power along with a capable glove. The Mets drafted Vientos as a shortstop, but have moved him over to third as he lacks the speed to stay there long term, but he does have the offensive profile to be a capable regular at the hot corner.
There is no real hurry to move Vientos along, so he will likely spend the rest of the year with Kingsport unless he continues this hot streak for another several weeks. At that point, the next stop for Vientos would be the Brooklyn Cyclones, the next rung on the minor league ladder. It wouldn’t be a big surprise if Vientos at least gets a cup of coffee there and starts his 2019 season with the Columbia Fireflies, giving him a full season’s worth of games at a higher level of play. Vientos definitely has a chance to be the long term successor to David Wright at third base if he continues to progress, but for now the Mets are just concerned about his ability to have success right where he is.
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