Three rookies fueling Mets during hot streak

Early in his New York Mets tenure, manager Buck Showalter was reluctant to give rookies significant playing time. To the team's benefit, that stance recently changed. Showalter put three rookies in the lineup to provide a spark, and they have helped fuel a recent hot streak.

After a slow start, the Mets are second in the NL East (30-27), 3.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves. Over their past 14 games, New York is 10-4, including a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Francisco Alvarez is the leader of the rookie pack. Since his call-up in early April, Alvarez has played 35 games, posting a .252/.308/.523 slash line with eight home runs and 19 RBIs across 111 at-bats. His eight home runs are tied for third most among MLB catchers.

Alvarez also quickly dispelled the notion that he might be a defensive liability. According to Baseball Savant, he ranks in the 86th percentile in framing and the 67th percentile in pop time to second base.

In the offseason, the Mets signed Omar Narvaez to be their starting catcher, but he has only played in five games due to a calf strain. The other catcher, Tomás Nido, recently returned from the injured list (dry eye) but is hitting just .130 in 21 games. 

Alvarez has started five of the six games since Nido's return, indicating he is entrenched as starting catcher.

Rookie third baseman Bretty Baty also is a key cog in the recent hot streak. 

Baty is slashing .240/.311/.388. His underlying numbers are much more impressive. Baty ranks in the top half of the MLB in average exit velocity, max exit velocity, hard hit percentage, walk percentage, barrel percentage, chase rate and sprint speed.

Similar to Alvarez, there were concerns about Baty's defense. However, he has been strong defensively and ranks in the 71st percentile in outs above average, a metric that shows how many outs a player has saved.

Mark Vientos, another rookie, was called up May 17, the night New York's 14-game hot stretch began. Vientos hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning that night against Tampa Bay, giving the Mets a huge boost.

In Wednesday's win over Philadelphia, Vientos' clutch sacrifice fly extended New York's lead. He hit the ball 112.8 miles per hour on that sac fly, the sixth hardest-hit ball by a Met this season. 

Vientos has platooned at DH with Daniel Vogelbach, but Vogelbach's average has plummeted to .215, likely leading to Vientos receiving the bulk of the DH starts.