Mark Vientos, Photo by Richard Nelson

Mark Vientos hit three home runs this week and drove in 10 to power the Syracuse Mets. Here’s a closer look at his continued success and other standouts from around the Mets’ system.

Triple-A Syracuse

Syracuse dropped four of six to the Charlotte Knights as they’re now 50-67 this season.

Despite a losing record, the Mets scored 49 runs in the six-game series. JT Riddle led the way with 14 hits, including four doubles and a home run, in 26 at-bats.

Mark Vientos and Daniel Palka each drove in 10 runs. Vientos went 13-for-29 with three home runs. He’s now batting .289/.363/.545 with 22 home runs this season. Palka went 12-for-25 with two homers to boost his OPS to .882 on the year.

Dominic Smith also had a strong series with nine hits, including two doubles and two home runs, in 26 at-bats. Smith is slashing .280/.369/.458 with four home runs in 107 at-bats in Triple-A.

Meanwhile, Francisco Álvarez continued to slump going 2-for-17. Alvarez is now batting just .167/.324/.343 through 108 at-bats since his promotion to Syracuse.

It was not a good week for pitching in Syracuse. Jordan Yamamoto made a pair of starts after being called up from Double-A and allowed 10 runs on 14 hits in just 5.1 innings between the two starts.

Harol Gonzalez also struggled in his Triple-A debut, allowing seven runs on seven hits in an inning and a third.

Bryce Montes de Oca was a bright spot on the mound as he struck out four in two scoreless innings. The six-foot-seven righthander hasn’t allowed a run in his last six innings while striking nine over that span. Montes de Oca sports a 3.21 ERA in 28 innings in Triple-A with a K/9 of 14.14.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies split a six-game set with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. They’re now 43-70 on the year.

Ronny Mauricio powered the Binghamton offense, going 9-for-27 with a double, two home runs, and a stolen base. Mauricio has five homers through 82 at-bats in August and 23 for the season. Overall, Mauricio is batting .251/.284/.475 with 15 steals in 21 attempts.

Carlos Cortes also had a strong series with a home run and two triples.

Jesus Vargas was named the Eastern League pitcher of the week with seven scoreless innings across two starts. The 24-year-old right-hander allowed just four hits and a walk while punching out 10. After struggling initially following his promotion to Binghamton, Vargas has now thrown 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing just five hits in that span while logging 14 strikeouts.

Garrison Bryant earned a pair of wins allowing four runs on eight hits across 8.2 total innings. Jose Chacin also picked up a win allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits through six innings.

High-A Brooklyn

The Cyclones dropped four of six to the Hudson Valley Renegades to fall to 56-58.

Jose Peroza had a big series going 10-for-21 with four doubles. Peroza is now 22-for-60 with a 1.037 OPS in August. He’s slashing .250/.340/.378 with six home runs this season.

William Lugo also had a solid week for Brooklyn going 8-for-23 with two doubles and a home run. The 20-year-old infielder is batting .255/.364/.468 with two homers in 47 at-bats since his promotion to High-A.

It was an uncharacteristically rough week for Brooklyn pitching. Dominic Hamel struggled in a pair of starts allowing seven runs on six hits and eight walks over seven total innings though he still struck out 12. Keyshawn Askew allowed four runs on two hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings while striking out eight.

Nolan Clenney pitched well in relief, earning a win with 4 2/3 scoreless innings across two appearances.

Low-A St. Lucie

St. Lucie lost four of six against the Lakeland Flying Tigers to fall to 66-47.

Chase Estep, the Mets’ ninth-round pick out of the University of Kentucky, provided most of their offense in the series with six hits, including two doubles and two home runs, in 21 at-bats. Estep is slashing .306/.419/.639 with three home runs through his first 36 FSL at-bats. The 22-year-old third baseman hit .302 with 13 homers in his final collegiate season with UK.

Justin Guerrera, Carlos Domniguez, and Omar De Los Santos also hit home runs in the series. De Los Santos also added three stolen bases to bring his season total to 63.

Florida Complex League/Dominican Summer League

Kevin Parada, the Mets’ 11th-overall pick, made his professional debut in the FCL going 3-f0r-11 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Fellow first-round pick Jett Williams went 3-for-15 with a double, a stolen base, and his first professional home run. Williams is 8-for-32 with a .804 OPS so far in the FCL.

Germain Noriega was impressive in the DSL going 7-for-13 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base. The 18-year-old outfielder is slashing .275/.361/.326 with 10 steals in his first professional season.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Brett Baty (SYR) – .315

OPS – Brett Baty – .943

HR – Francisco Álvarez (SYR)/Ronny Mauricio (BNG)– 23

SB – Omar De Los Santos (SLU) – 63

Pitching (min. 20 innings)

ERA – Stephen Nogosek (SYR) – 1.09

SO – Dominic Hamel (BRK) – 122

WHIP – Stephen Nogosek (SYR) – 0.88

Players of the Week

Offensive – Mark Vientos, 1B/3B Syracuse

Vientos had another big week at the plate with three home runs and 10 RBIs. He now has a .404/.436/.654 slash line through 52 at-bats in August as he raised his OPS to .908 on the season.

Vientos has been excellent in Syracuse and is overdue for a chance in the big leagues. He’s shown an ability to hit for average without sacrificing his tremendous power potential. Vientos’ biggest question mark is his glove and he’ll likely profile best at first base long term, and in reality, he should probably DH most of the time. However, while he hasn’t carried the same hype as Brett Baty or Francisco Álvarez, Vientos has the bat to succeed in the Major Leagues.

Pitching – Bryce Montes de Oca, RHP Syracuse

Montes de Oca continued an excellent stretch with another four strikeouts in two scoreless innings this week. Since the start of July, Montes de Oca has pitched to a 2.00 ERA with a whip of 1.11 and an outstanding 17.5 K/9.

The big right-hander features a fastball that regularly reached 100 MPH to go along with a plus slider. Control has been his biggest issue so far as a professional but he’s cut his walk rate to 5.46 after posting a 7.52 last season in Brooklyn. It’d be hard to argue that the Mets have a more exciting bullpen prospect than Montes de Oca who profiles as a potential late-innings, high-leverage arm.

Upcoming Schedule – August 23-29

Triple-A Syracuse – vs. Worcester

Double-A Binghamton – @ Reading

High-A Brooklyn – @ Jersey Shore

Low-A St. Lucie – vs. Palm Beach