Another Mets player other than Francisco Lindor deserves mild MVP consideration

The buzz around the New York Mets and the MVP race is centered on Francisco Lindor. The starting shortstop is among the league leaders in multiple categories if not at the top with some of the newer or more non-traditional ones. Unlike some of the others vying for the honor, he plays a premium position and does it well. Up against guys like Shohei Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna who wouldn’t know the difference this year between mitt or a mutt, Lindor gets an extra boost by playing Gold Glove-caliber defense.

Lindor’s importance cannot be ignored. For him to have come from such a miserable start to where he is now is one of the most impressive surges imaginable. His attitude doesn’t show up anywhere and frankly, that’s what weighs heaviest.

Lindor is great but he isn’t carrying the team as a lone ranger. In fact, one of his teammates deserves some more distant MVP consideration. Now 81 games deep into his season, doubling the numbers Mark Vientos has posted would have him finishing right there alongside some of the best hitters in the National League.

Mets slugger Mark Vientos only has missing at-bats spoiling his inclusion in the MVP conversation

In no way, shape, or form is Vientos the best player in the league nor would a full season of play this year have changed a thing. Let’s get that out of the way right now. In terms of an MVP case, something along the lines of Dominic Smith finishing in 13th place back in 2020 is where my head is at.

Voters have a first through tenth place to award and the points add up. A lot of the time those 10th place selections are guys who didn’t quite deserve it but put together an important and sometimes abridged season. This is Vientos. He’d need much more than a single 10th place vote to get placement of any kind.

If we simply double Vientos’ numbers, he’d be on a 2024 pace to hit 40 home runs and drive in 108. Accomplishing this with a .278/.334/.549 slash line makes it even more impressive. The .884 OPS he has after going hitless on Friday against the San Diego Padres won’t dip too low. In fact, it’s better than Pete Alonso in every season of his career other than his magnificent rookie campaign when he finished seventh.

Many of these numbers don’t quite measure up to Ohtani and Ozuna who are already where Vientos would finish in a full season. We’d have to assume he wouldn’t play in all 162 games anyway. This cuts his home run and RBI totals down a little bit.

Vientos is among the best power hitters in the game this season. Homering every 14.5 at-bats, his power is the most prominent on the Mets and ranks among the best in Major League Baseball.

Consistency has been Vientos’ best friend this season. This helps negate the argument of what he would have done in the month and a half he didn’t play to start the year. There hasn’t been a month yet this season where he either dipped or stockpiled ridiculous numbers. August has been his weakest month thus far, but he hasn’t disappeared either.

A couple of things need to happen for Lindor to win the MVP. Some of those same events are musts for Vientos to have a vote thrown his way. An amazing finish is a must as is a Mets playoff berth. Vientos will get easily overlooked by many voters when it comes to the Mets if they don’t make the postseason because this is a team with veteran stars. He isn’t even the most prominent of the young players.

Make no mistake. Vientos is one of the best hitters in the league this season. All that’s missing is a month and a half of baseball of unknown that we can’t say either way how he would have performed.