With how Mark Vientos is going, he doesn’t have to worry about when the Mets will send him to Triple-A Syracuse anytime soon or if ever again. He keeps hitting since his callup on May 15 and has not looked back. He established himself as an everyday player for the Mets.
On Friday night at Citi Field, Vientos hit a home run and drove in two runs to go for two hits in the Mets’ 7-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
He is hitting.299 with a .353 on-base percentage, a .563 slugging percentage, and .922 OPS with 12 home runs, 33 RBI, and 52 hits. In his last seven games, he has had nine hits and four RBI with a home run and a slash line of .346/.393/.577. In his previous 30 games, he has had 31 hits and 22 RBI with his seven home runs and a slash line of .277/.325/.527.
Right now, the best thing that can be said is that the game looks easy for him. You know Vientos will do something special at the plate. When he puts the barrel on the ball, you know it has a chance to turn into a home run. He has a flair for a dramatic moment.
We saw that in the second inning when he homered off Rockies starter Tanner Gordon to make it a 2-1 game. That had the Rockies starter flustered to the point where he gave up a back-to-back home run to red-hot Jose Iglesias and then another home run to Harrison Bader in that inning, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead.
How about him hitting two home runs off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to give the Mets an early lead in the first game of the Subway Series?
Against the Washington Nationals on June 3, it was Vientos who broke a 1-1 tie by hitting a home run.
He hit a two-run, game-winning home run in the 11th inning against the Cardinals on April 28 to give the Mets a 4-2 comeback victory against the Cardinals.
Vientos has been a huge part of the Mets’ success, along with Francisco Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Jose Iglesias, after the team went 22-33 on May 29. He diversifies this lineup by hitting home runs and using the field to get base hits. He credited Carlos Beltran with his approach, which focused on spraying it to center field when the Mets were in Chicago in June.
This shows Vientos is not a one-trick pony like Pete Alonso, who is only good at hitting home runs. The flavor of the month showed he can hit for contact when he has to.
Another thing about his approach that stands out is that he has such an even-keeled approach when he is playing every day. He is never too high or too low. He focuses on having a good at-bat, and he doesn’t let a bad at-bat get to him. He does better next time. That approach helped him establish himself as an everyday player.
He believes that he can do something special at the plate, and if he fails, he will get back at it next time.
Guys like Brett Baty could use that approach. It seemed like he focused on his bad at-bats to the point it affected him when he was at that plate. It became mental for him at the end.
Baseball is about ups and downs. Vientos doesn’t let that affect him when he is out there. Some players have that certain it-factor, and it seems like this Mets slugger does from what he is doing out there.
When Vientos did not make the Opening Day roster and got called down to Syracuse earlier this season, it could have been easy for him to complain since he was decent. Instead, he kept working and doing his job. That approach served him so well that the Mets were finding ways to call him up, and now the rest is history. It helps that Vientos has the talent to believe in himself. He was meant to hit mammoth home runs. It’s something that can’t be taught. There was a reason why he was highly touted as a prospect.
Vientos always seems prepared when he faces pitchers. He has a good feel for what they will throw, which explains why he has good at-bats.
The Mets showed their creativity by putting Vientos in the lineup and having him play third, which is not his position. But he worked on his game at playing third and has been competent enough to play at the hot corner by making good throws to Alonso to get the runner out at first. He only made Mets manager Carlos Mendoza look like a genius by doing all he could to play daily and being versatile in the infield.
Vientos made Baty history by outplaying him and winning a spot in the lineup.
He also put his Syracuse days behind him for good.
