Jeremy Vasquez/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

While Rumble Ponies first baseman Peter Alonso has demanded the attention of evaluators and fans all across minor league baseball, and very deservedly so, the New York Mets have another young slugger manning the cold corner that is garnering attention of his own.

Jeremy Vasquez, who has been playing first base regularly for the Mets low-A affiliate Columbia Fireflies, was declared Player of the Week in the South Atlantic League for the week of April 23-29.

Vasquez, 21, earned the accolades for his solid week, hitting .360/.407/.680, including three doubles, one triple, and one homerun. But really, this has been nothing new for last year’s 28th round pick.

In fact, Vasquez has been all about the records and accolades in his full-season debut. Vasquez is currently working on a 23 consecutive game on-base streak, and counting. Not bad for a 28th round pick out of Nova Southeastern University, eh?

Overall, the left-handed batter is slashing .325/.455/.545 with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 RBI.

Sure, the first month of his season has been kind to Vasquez statistically, as his current OPS sits at a even 1.000 across 77 at-bats. While competing against players that are roughly his peers in age, Vasquez has shown impressive power, a must-have for a first base only prospect, as evidenced by his .545 slugging percentage.

But perhaps just as important a sign of meaningful success, Vasquez has struck out only 16 times against 20 walks. Indeed, Vasquez has thoroughly dominated the competition, in near-Peter-Alonso-like manner. Always cautious to match the stat-line to the on-field looks, I am excited to say that my admiration for Vasquez’s bat only grows after being given the eye test.

Vasquez adopts a quiet, upright stance from the left side with his bat head pointing ninety degrees to the ground. As he loads his swing, his hands drop, and he gets strong hip rotation during follow-through, generating a forceful, lofty cut. The swing appears smooth and not wild or extra-long, and Vasquez has been using it to generate impressively loud contact when he squares up pitches thrown middle-in. In slightly more general parlance, he looks like a hitter.

And the league is clearly taking notice.