3 Mets players who proved their spring training was a fluke

Putting weight on spring training numbers tends to be a mistake. Good players will sometimes struggle for no reason at all only to perform well as soon as the season starts. Others will outperform expectations in an attempt to make their way onto the Opening Day roster. This past spring, we saw plenty of unexpected performances from New York Mets players.

Looking back at this past spring, these three players have already proved their St. Lucie performances were a fluke.

1) Mark Vientos

Nobody hit more home runs for the Mets this spring than Mark Vientos. His 5 dingers led the ball club. However, it did come with an underwhelming .232/.259/.536 slash line. He struck out 19 times in 56 at-bats. The pace of K’ing along with doubts about his defense had the Mets second-guessing any thoughts of him being on the Opening Day roster.

Apparently, Vientos took the demotion personally. He smashed his way back into the conversation as a candidate to play third base for the Mets. Once again proving he is better than your average Triple-A player, the Mets had no choice but to promote him despite the presence of J.D. Martinez on the roster. He has rewarded them with some big time hitting.

Vientos already has 6 home runs and 17 RBI and is slashing .305/.362/.533. He has cut down on the strikeouts, too. With 25 of them through his first 105 at-bats, it’s a more than acceptable rate for a slugger.

We knew Vientos could hit homers, but who’d expect after more than 100 trips to the plate he’d own a batting average above .300? It might not stick. However, Vientos has more than proven he is a big league hitter already and that spring training numbers are just a hint and no guarantee of what’s to come.

2) Zack Short

Remember Zack Short? The biggest spring training surprise of all made the club and then the Mets didn’t really know exactly how to use him. Known more for his defense than anything else, we saw him play lackluster defense early on for the Mets. 

In 10 games, 12 plate appearances, and a very forgettable stint with the Mets, the utility man would go just 1 for 9 before the team designated him for assignment. Now employed by the Atlanta Braves after a brief pit stop with the Boston Red Sox, the story hasn’t changed much as he continues to struggle to hit at the big league level.

It was a different story in the spring. Short was 12 for 40 in the preseason exhibition games. His .300/.404/.475 slash line included a home run and 8 RBI. He even walked 7 times while striking out 6. Short did everything you’d want a 26th man on the roster to do. He successfully swiped 3 bases and was never caught.

Reality set in once his playing time diminished and all of those minor league players he got to face in spring training went back to the farm. Short was already a redundant player to have on the roster alongside Joey Wendle. It was an easy call by the Mets to send both packing.