The New York Mets are currently in an intense battle to secure one of the Wild Card spots in the National League. They have won six straight and look unbeatable at the moment with MVP candidate Francisco Lindor leading the charge and a talented supporting cast.
We have discussed Lindor at length, but a team is much more than just one player. The Mets have Pete Alonso’s home runs, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino’s durability in the rotation, Phil Maton’s excellent in relief, Brandon Nimmo’s on-base ability even in adverse circumstances, and much more.
They also have two underrated, yet ascending stars who have been consistently great since receiving an extended look: left-handed pitcher David Peterson and third baseman Mark Vientos.
The Mets have gotten inspiring performances from two unlikely sources
David Peterson
Peterson has been very solid in the past: he has, for example, a 4.11 career ERA. However, he has never been this good for this long. After completely dominating on Tuesday with a career-high 11 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox, the southpaw now owns a 2.75 ERA in 98.1 innings of work.
His previous career-best in ERA was 3.44 in 2020, and 3.83 in 2022 (105.2 innings) if we only count full, normal seasons. Now, he is shattering those marks even if his 4.06 FIP indicates he is pitching a little over his head.
The Mets have enjoyed the durability and consistency Peterson has contributed this year. He owns an impressive 9-1 record and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven straight outings since August 3.
It’s safe to say he recovered nicely from the hip surgery that delayed the start of his season.
Mark Vientos
Vientos has been among the Mets’ top prospects for several years now. He even saw MLB time in 2022 and 2023, but couldn’t establish himself as a contributor in any of the two campaigns. With prospects, however, all you need is patience.
The Mets had it, and despite being a late spring training cut and being up and down several times in April, Vientos has been up for good since mid-May.
This year, everything clicked. He went from posting a .546 OPS in 2022 and a .620 mark in 2023 to a much, much better .881 in his breakout 2024.
Vientos, who homered on Tuesday’s win, is hitting an incredible .281/.337/.544 with 20 doubles and 22 home runs in just 359 plate appearances. He has been a godsend for the Mets lineup and has given it another power threat to help Lindor, Pete Alonso, and other top hitters in the batting order.
He is only 24 and will be around for a long, long time. The Mets needed to develop a homegrown star with a reliable bat, and they definitely have one in Vientos.
