Which Mets player were you more wrong about, David Peterson or Mark Vientos?

Another New York Mets game, another win because David Peterson was on the mound. The crafty lefty is now 9-1 on the year with a magnificent 2.75 ERA. He got some help from usual suspects including home runs from Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and of course Mark Vientos.

Behind 11 strikeouts on his 29th birthday, Peterson did his job at reminding us all how wrong we were about him. Ensuring we wouldn’t forget about him either, Vientos added a home run that would go on to be the game-winner in their 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Two Mets prospects we didn’t think much of heading into the season remain right in the thick of their 2024 dash to the playoffs.

You probably didn’t expect the Mets to get this much out of David Peterson or Mark Vientos

Peterson had plenty of chances in the past. Injuries and inconsistencies made him a constant battler for a roster spot. He got hurt midway through 2021 then returned the following season in a specialty role as both an emergency starter and reliever as well as minor league depth. He impressed us all with how he was able to take on any task. Then came 2023 when he pitched his way off the roster only to return later on simply because the Mets needed someone to pitch.

This year has been a completely different look for Peterson. An ERA now down to 2.75 on the season, Peterson has done it with some smoke and mirrors. Don’t let numbers like a 3.99 FIP fool you into thinking this isn’t a good year. At the end of the inning, it’s run prevention that matters. Peterson has helped limit the damage by avoiding home runs to make his walks more damaging. Many of his walks are getting erased on double play groundouts.

We also have Vientos who never did get quite the same fair shake. His 22nd home run of the year on Tuesday added to his brilliant season that has seen Vientos snatch the starting third base gig, a permanent spot in the upper part of the lineup, and even given the Mets a little less incentive to overpay Pete Alonso in free agency.

Vientos isn’t just popping home runs either. His .281/.337/.544 slash line has caught us by surprise most. He has knocked 20 doubles to go with his 22 home runs. We can only imagine what those totals will look like in a full season.

In your/our defense, Vientos’ supposedly fantastic final month of the season in 2023 doesn’t look so amazing at all in retrospect. A .230/.280/.460 slash line to finish last season hardly registers in comparison to what he has done this year. He did hit 6 home runs but with a strikeout rate in about 30% of his plate appearances even then, anyone who needed to see more from Vientos wasn’t wrong to have doubts.

Any lingering uncertainties with Peterson and Vientos have less to do with what they have shown and more from the utter shock of how suddenly they seemed to turn things around. Peterson had the far greater sample size to make us question his future. Vientos, on the other hand, had the excuse of a lack of playing time.

For both, it feels good to be so terribly wrong. But which one were you more wrong about?