Bienvientos

Mark Vientos (NYM): 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Remember way back in spring training when the Mets had a playing time battle at third base between Mark Vientos and Brett Baty? Yeah, that feels like ages ago. Vientos has been nothing short of wonderful since seizing the job.

Last night, he gifted the crowd at Citi Field another riveting performance. He got the Mets started, banging a cutter from Fernando Cruz 367 feet (106.2 EV) over the wall in left for his 23rd home run. A few hours later in the tenth with the score tied 4-4, he sent everyone to the exits by going yard on a 97 mph heater from lefty Justin Wilson (400 feet, 106.6 EV).

The 24-year-old righty is slashing .289/.342/.563 across 368 PA. His .383 wOBA would rank first ahead of Rafael Devers (.373) among third basemen if he qualified (!!). Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty good. You don’t need me to tell you that his power is legit, but if you’re wondering, PLV thinks he’s quite good in the batted ball department grading his power at 125 (100 is average with 15 points being roughly a standard deviation). The only stick in the mud, and this feels like nit-picking, is that he whiffs quite a bit (86 contact ability). Still, if you were lucky enough to scoop on the wire, you’re jumping for joy and riding him to the finish line.

An interesting and random offseason debate in my brain is where he and Jake Burger settle in next year’s ADP. Burger struggled badly in the first half but came on strong late. However, he has the disadvantage of lacking a noteworthy supporting cast. Vientos, meanwhile, hasn’t really struggled at the big-league level while hitting in a rock-solid Met lineup that ranks eighth in team wOBA.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:

Trea Turner (PHI): 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Oh boy, the poor Marlins took it on the chin. Outfielder David Hensley tossed the final two innings of a 16-2 shellacking that began with their scheduled starter, Edward Cabrera, being late-scratched with migraines. His replacement, left-hander Austin Kitchen, lasted all of two innings, surrendering seven runs (six earned) on nine hits. Yep, it was that kind of night. Turner singled in his first at-bat before scoring the Phils’ second run on a single to center from Bryson Stott. Turner turned up the heat in his second at-bat, blasting a sinker from Kitchen in for a two-run shot to left (396 feet, 104.4 EV), turning the game into a 6-0 rout. The three-hit night has Turner hitting .300 on the nose, one point behind Brent Rooker for eighth among qualified hitters.

Manny Machado (SDP): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, SB.

Machado extended the Padres’ lead to 3-0 in the first by crushing a hanging sweeper from Giants righty Mason Black (375 feet, 99.9 EV). His encore off Austin Warren in the eighth was not only significantly louder (419 feet, 110.5 EV) but also historic as his 163rd home run as a Padre tied him with Nate Colbert atop the franchise leaderboard. Machado’s .331 wOBA and 117 wRC+ are a little off his career marks of .350 and 122, but not alarmingly so. At 32, there’s a chance he could be tailing off slightly, but those fears might also make him a value in drafts next year. Regardless, his PLV profile remains rock-solid with above-average marks in contact ability (109), and power (106).

Yordan Alvarez (HOU): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI.

With two on and no outs in the bottom of the fifth, Brandon Pfaadt tried to sneak a fastball past Alvarez upstairs. It didn’t work, resulting in the baseball landing halfway up the second deck in right (406 feet, 108.9 EV). Alvarez’s second three-run shot came against left-hander Jordan Montgomery and flew 420 feet before landing just to the left of the Astros pen in right-center. The big night pushed his wOBA to .406, tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at fifth among qualified hitters behind Aaron Judge (.474), Juan Soto (.428), Bobby Witt Jr. (.417), and Shohei Ohtani, who hit his 45th last night, at .412. That sounds about right.

Tommy Pham (KCR): 2-4, 2B, RBI.

Pham didn’t have a huge night, but he’s been hitting leadoff since being scooped by the Royals off waivers and is minimally rostered (4% on Yahoo) after being a part-timer with the Cards. Now on his seventh team over the last three seasons, Pham remains a tough out with a 94th-percentile chase rate and could be a decent source of runs over the final few weeks.

Jordan Walker (STL): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.

Jordan Walker’s struggles have been well-documented, but you can’t really assess him because he’s had such sporadic playing time across 30 games. He reminded us of the talent that made him a top prospect last night by launching a 405-foot home run on a fastball from Mariners reliever Troy Taylor, who entered the game having surrendered just one earned run through his previous 11 appearances. Walker has started six of the Cards’ last seven games. Sure, you can’t expect anything from him, but you could do far worse than taking a chance on his raw talent.

TJ Friedl (CIN): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Friedl was an interesting gamble this season after posting a .358 wOBA last year with 27 stolen bases and 18 home runs across 556 PA. However, it wasn’t meant to be with injuries being the culprit (broken thumb, fractured wrist, hamstring strain). Still, the 29-year-old lefty has been playing daily operating mostly as the Reds’ cleanup hitter. He hit sixth last night against the left-hander Sean Manaea, whom he torched for his 11th homer (394 feet, 101.1 EV), a two-run shot that tied the game in the seventh.

Michael Toglia (COL): 2-3, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB.

Frankie Montas was cruising to what seemed like an easy, albeit tenuous victory with the Brewers ahead 1-0 in the sixth. However, this man turned the game upside down, blasting a first-pitch 94 mph heater with two down and two on for what turned out to be the game-winner (427 feet, 107.6 EV). I’m curious to know what Montas was thinking with that pitch selection against probably the Rockies’ most dangerous hitter, especially with first base open. Monday morning quarterbacking aside, Toglia has been one of the lone bright spots for the Purple Pinstripers, blasting a team-leading 23 homers with a .337 wOBA (second to Brenton Doyle’s .341).

Brayan Rocchio (CLE): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI.

Rocchio gave the Guardians some much-needed insurance in the eighth blasting a solo shot to left off bespectacled left-hander Anthony Banda. He’s gone yard in back-to-back games, but as the eighth/ninth-place hitter, there’s not much to see here unless you simply need some at-bats in a deep league. On that note, the Guardians are headed to Chicago to face the White Sox for three, so Rocchio could work as a steaming play if you’re in a bind in a deep league.

Andrés Giménez also went yard for the Guardians spoiling what was an otherwise spotless performance from Dodger rookie Landon Knack. 

Michael Conforto (SFG): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.

Conforto swatted his 16th home run (392 feet, 103.8 EV), blemishing an otherwise regal performance from Michael King. The former Met has shown good power this year (113 via PLV) and might be underperforming considering his strong batted-ball metrics. However, playing half his games at the spacious confines of Oracle Park has capped his upside. On that note, last night’s dinger might not have made it out at Oracle Park.

 

Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)