ANAHEIM, Calif. — Once seen as the future of the Mets, the hope surrounding prospects Francisco Alvarez, Brett Batty, Mark Vientos, and Ronnie Mauricio has dimmed due to the team’s lackluster performance.
As of Saturday, the group had a combined bWAR of -0.8, which adds to concerns about the Mets’ dismal 11-21 start.
Injuries have forced Batty and Vientos into bigger roles than expected. For instance, Juan Soto was sidelined for almost three weeks in April, and Jorge Polanco has been out for the last two and a half weeks. Mauricio stepped in as the starting shortstop last week following Francisco Lindor’s stint on the disabled list due to a calf strain.
The Mets are in dire need of improvement, and these four players could be pivotal. They’ve shown flashes of potential over the past few seasons. Let’s dig deeper, starting with Alvarez.
Alvarez
After a strong beginning, the 24-year-old catcher has struggled both offensively and defensively as the season progresses.
His strikeout rate has decreased, but unfortunately, so has his hard-hit rate. I wonder whether the expectation of him becoming a reliable source of 25 home runs a year is slipping away.
Can the Mets still rely on Alvarez for offense despite his issues behind the plate? He ranks in the 5th percentile for blocking balls in the dirt, which is concerning, yet he has an average number of stolen bases.
Luis Torrence, a solid defender, just signed a two-year extension. But maybe it’s time to rethink his role—should he be getting more playtime rather than just filling in as a backup for another year?
Batty
There were hopes that Batty would finally break out after a solid end to last season, but he seems to be struggling at the plate and getting frustrated with umpires.
At 26, he has good bat speed—ranking 75th in MLB—but his strikeout and hard-hit rates raise questions.
He has moved from playing third and second base to taking on right field and first base this year. Could the switch overwhelmed him?
Vientos
The transition hasn’t been easy for Vientos, 26, who has mostly taken on first base duties, except during the Mets’ first game of the season where he had a significant impact.
His underlying numbers don’t paint a pretty picture: low average exit velocity, high strikeout rate, and a poor walk rate. It would have been ideal to use him just against left-handed pitchers, but injuries have complicated that.
He has an .833 OPS in 26 at-bats against lefties, while that drops dramatically to .548 against righties.
Defensively, he’s improving at first base. There have been commendable moments early in the season, but some clear disappointments too. And his base running hasn’t helped his case, like when he disregarded a stop sign at third and got thrown out at home.
Mauricio
Out of the four, Mauricio is the least experienced, with just 321 major league plate appearances, largely due to missing last season after rehabbing a torn ACL.
His potential was on display Friday when he hit a game-winning homer in the seventh inning—his first of the season. However, he began the day with 10 strikeouts and no walks over 29 at-bats, which isn’t ideal.
“It was difficult,” Mauricio admitted. “I think there are moments when you focus on too many things. To make it easier, you have to simplify the game and just focus on what’s under your control and let everything else go.”
