Mark Vientos, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

It has been quite the year for some of the most highly-regarded position players in the New York Mets farm system, and Mark Vientos continues to be an exciting talent that seems destined for the big leagues at some point in the not-too-distant future. If his red hot August is anything to go by, then that call-up should come sooner rather than later.

For as good as the Mets have been in their quest to morph into a legitimate World Series contender under manager Buck Showalter this year, the organization has also started to see the fruits of their hard work pay off when it comes to the top ranks of their farm system. Recently ranked the No. 5 farm system in all of baseball by ESPN, the Mets boast a prospect pool that features a plethora of high-end talent.

Phenom catcher Francisco Álvarez has been the headline grabber all year throughout his ascension to the top of the pile as the No. 1 overall prospect in all of baseball, while third baseman Brett Baty has proved that his bat belongs in the major leagues in a small but impressive sample size since being called up to MLB earlier this month.

The talent doesn’t end with those two, however. Another elite prospect who has made stunning progress this year has been Vientos, who is currently in the midst of a jaw-dropping month at Triple-A Syracuse.

The DH/first baseman has taken substantial and significant steps in his development this season and, as was the case with Baty, there are a large number of Mets fans who are leading the charge for Vientos to be called up soon so he can grace the majors with his considerable talents.

They have a point. After all, the 22-year-old has been carving out a monster season offensively at Triple-A all season. In 87 games and 366 plate appearances, he has 22 home runs, 15 doubles, 36 walks and 66 RBI with a .908 OPS. A lot of that damage has come in August.

Vientos is currently hitting .404/.436/.654 with a 1.090 OPS, three home runs and 12 RBI this month. He went 13-for-29 at the plate last week alone with three homers and 10 RBI, and he had more hits last week (13) than he did in the season’s first month. It shouldn’t come as surprise, then, that Vientos was named the International League Player of the Week for his exploits with the bat.

If you stand back and take a wider look, then Vientos has been pretty much unstoppable offensively for a few months now. Since May 1, he has hit .318/.389/.599 with 21 homers, and his 138 wRC+ is fifth-best among all Triple-A hitters. That is a long time to be that good and electric at the plate, and the most impressive and exciting thing about Vientos this year has been his pure power.

Despite having just one home run to his name during his high-school career, the slugger has really harnessed his power and he’s grown nicely into his plus-power projection. That has been clear to see this year with Vientos destroying baseballs for fun at Triple-A, and it probably isn’t a stretch to suggest that it will be his bat that will lead to any success in the majors.

So, with all that in mind, is Vientos trending in the same direction as Baty in regards to a call-up to the big leagues? That is the million-dollar question, and as long as Vientos keeps mashing at the level he is, then a September call-up will remain a very real possibility.

However, there are a couple of caveats at play here. Firstly, there’s no real place on the big league roster for Vientos right now. With Pete Alonso at first base and Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf serving as an effective platoon at DH, the Mets would simply be calling up Vientos for the sake of giving him the at-bat here and there.

Secondly; as good as Vientos has been at the plate, there are clear question marks over his glove out in the field. His defensive skills are his biggest weakness right now and, having been moved off of playing third base, there isn’t much versatility there to play with to warrant a call-up. (He’ll likely be a DH for most of his career.) Again, with Alonso, Vogelbach and Ruf all in the lineup, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of playing time for Vientos right now or in September as the pennant race remains hot.

Defense was the main reason why Vientos wasn’t called up by the Mets a couple of months ago, and that will likely be the driving force this time around if he stays in the minors. However, when looking at his credentials as a potential DH in the future, he could be used as part of an effective platoon. He has absolutely mashed against lefties this season, hitting .340/.405/.736 with 12 home runs, 35 RBI and a 1.141 OPS.  That is a weapon the Mets could certainly use now and in the future.

While it is only natural to want to see a franchise’s No. 7 overall prospect rewarded with a big league call-up after raking in the minors, it might be best for the Mets to play the long game with Vientos.

After all, he will only continue to get more at-bats in Triple-A than he will in the majors right now, and he’s also got the benefit of working on his defense without the pressure and the spotlight that playing in the bigs brings. It seems to make much more sense to allow Vientos to continue to learn his craft and hone his skills in the minors for the rest of the year. Then, once spring training comes around in 2023, he could be a viable option as a DH for the Mets.

However, if he continues to mash at the rate he currently is, then a call-up in September or even October could indeed happen. Stranger things have happened after all.