The options with the activation of Mark Vientos

It’s tough to make decisions based on small samples. It gets even trickier when you have to include factors like age, roster configuration and option status – to say nothing about what’s in the best interests of the team versus the best interest of the player. But let’s ignore those other factors for a moment. Instead, let’s look at four lines of less than a full season:

Player A: 54 PA, .260/.315/.480, .323 BABIP, 29.6 K%
Player B: 44 PA, .171/.227/.415, .174 BABIP, 34.1 K%
Player C: 62 PA, .218/.306/.309, .333 BABIP, 33.9 K%
Player D: 195 PA, .240/.308/.446, .303 BABIP, 30.3 K%

Player A is Ronny Mauricio, Player B is Jared Young and Player C & D is Pete Alonso.

Clearly, Alonso isn’t going anywhere for the remainder of 2025. But that last line, which is what he’s done since May 6, isn’t very impressive. Yes, it’s solid – a wRC+ of 111 – but you’d hope for more from your cleanup hitter and an alleged MVP candidate. And while it’s not a full season, it’s close to one-third of a year. And that .754 OPS comes with a .303 BABIP, which is 12 points above the league average and 23 points higher than Alonso’s career-best mark in the category.

The 54 PA for Mauricio is what he’s done in the majors in his last 15 games, eliminating the 0-8 in his first two games. The 62 PA for Alonso is what he’s done in his last 15 and the 44 for Young is the totality of what he’s done in the majors this season. It’s too many strikeouts for Mauricio. Yet he has a lower K% than either Alonso or Young.

The hits are falling in for Mauricio but they’re falling in at a slightly greater rate for Alonso in the last 15 games for both. Oddly, the BABIP for Young is his second-strongest case for sticking around. Surely, he’ll enjoy some better luck from the BABIP gods moving forward.

The best case for Young is that he’s a non-prospect and who cares if he goes a week without getting into a game. There are no worries about stunting his development. Yet at a time when everyone and his brother is concerned about getting offense from the bottom of the order, why keep on the roster – much less play in a game – a guy whose best attribute is that it’s okay if he doesn’t play for a week?

Before he was promoted, my opinion was that there was enough playing time to go around between 3B and DH to work for Brett Baty, Mauricio and Mark Vientos. Since that time, a new wrinkle has developed. Jeff McNeil is hitting and it’s laughable to consider cutting into his playing time. Yet McNeil has proved at least serviceable in center field, opening up playing time at second base for either Baty or Mauricio.

Tyrone Taylor is a strong defensive center fielder and likely a better hitter than he’s shown so far this season. Yet it’s not unreasonable to cut into his playing time, so long as Baty, Mauricio and Vientos are hitting. In his last 154 PA before going on the IL, Vientos had a .772 OPS. In 232 PA so far this season, Taylor has a .619 OPS.

Is 15 games worth of production enough to believe in Mauricio going forward? Perhaps that’s not the best way to frame the question. Instead let’s ask it this way: Do you think Mauricio has a better chance of posting a 100 OPS+ than Taylor for the remainder of the year?

Coming into this season, Taylor had a lifetime 102 OPS+ in 1,317 PA in the majors. It’s not outrageous to expect him to revert to career numbers from this point forward. At the same time, Mauricio is one of the club’s top prospects. In 571 PA in Triple-A, he has an .887 OPS. And now he’s starting to hit a little bit in the majors.

The easiest thing to do is to send Mauricio back to the minors when Vientos is activated. Yet easy is not the same thing as the correct decision. My opinion is that the correct decision is to demote Young, who has options remaining, for anyone even mildly concerned about losing him to waivers. That leaves five players for three spots.

We have to consider Starling Marte here, too. He should get some playing time as a DH, putting him into the mix with Baty, Mauricio, Taylor and Vientos for playing time. We can also consider it six players for four positions, including McNeil. Here’s a rough estimate of playing time for the group:

McNeil – 95%
Vientos – 85%
Baty – 80%
Mauricio – 75%
Taylor – 45%
Marte – 20%

That’s just a rough guideline. If Baty stops hitting and Taylor starts, the percentages change. And that holds true for every player who might get hot or cold. It’s not ideal, requiring the manager to constantly adjust his lineup. But that’s not an outrageous ask – it’s not rocket science.

David Stearns believes in giving young players a shot. My opinion is that Mauricio has earned a shot right now, more than the 17 games he got while Vientos was sidelined. If he were to get 75% of a full-time role going forward, few would consider that wasting time and not getting him enough playing time. With Taylor with a .619 OPS, Baty with a .673 OPS and Vientos with a .678 OPS – it doesn’t seem outlandish to try and work one of your top prospects into the lineup to potentially boost the offense.