Mark Vientos posted a monster second half of the 2024 season for the Mets after spending a couple of early stints in the minors.
This year’s extended absence amid another slow offensive start for Vientos was due to spending more than three weeks on the injured list after he suffered a hamstring injury in early June.
The slugging third baseman is expected to be activated from the 10-day IL ahead of Friday’s game in Pittsburgh, with an eye on reestablishing himself as a lineup mainstay again over the final 80 games.
“Oh, man, it’s good to be back with the guys and seeing a bunch of faces that I missed, and officially playing with the team pretty soon,” the 25-year-old Vientos said in the Mets’ clubhouse before Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Braves at Citi Field. “I feel like there’s always a trend with me and first halves throughout my career. And I feel like that’s a good thing, that it’s a long season. Baseball is a long season. That’s why, when they say, ‘Change [the schedule from] 162 games,’ I’m the one that says, ‘No, I want all those games.’ ”
Indeed, Vientos emerged from his early-season demotion to Triple-A Syracuse to finish last year with 27 home runs and 71 RBIs with an OPS of .837 over 111 games.
He then added five more homers and a team-best 14 RBIs in 13 postseason appearances.
“Mark, he’s a big part of this team. We saw what he was, what he did for us last year, and we’re counting on him again,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s a guy who can drive the ball to all fields and give you good at-bats. The power is real. We’re going to need him.
“We get him going, we’re talking about having a deep lineup one through nine. And when you have a guy like we saw last year, he can hit anywhere in the lineup — 2-3-4-6-7. You just add to the quality of the players that we have on that roster.”
Vientos was batting just .230 with six homers and a .676 OPS in 208 plate appearances when he was injured June 2 in Los Angeles.
“I feel like, as I had time off and I thought about the past couple months, it’s just like, hey man, it’s part of it,” Vientos said. “Like, if you thought you were going to come into the league again, especially the big leagues, and think that it was going to be a walk in the park, you have another thing coming.
“I kind of got humbled a little bit, and I appreciate that.”
It’s not clear who could be sent down when Vientos is activated.
Infielders Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio or spare outfielder Travis Jankowski would most likely be moved out.
Baty, mostly a third baseman, has had some important moments this season with eight homers and 27 RBIs in 59 games through Wednesday.
He also is capable of playing second base, as can utilityman Jeff McNeil and Mauricio.
“The way I see it is, this continues to be a puzzle where I have to work the pieces and put everything in place,” Mendoza said. “There’s gonna be a few spots in the lineup that are gonna be kind of rotating, and I think that’s a good problem to have, the way I see it.
“I’ve been saying this since Day 1, talking about depth and how good our team is because of the quality and the quantity that we have. So there will be at-bats for everyone in there on the active roster, and I will make sure we communicate with them on a daily basis, and they understand we’re here to win baseball games.”
Vientos wasn’t activated immediately because he had played the previous two days in the minors, including registering two hits Wednesday for Syracuse.
“Obviously, the hamstring was the main thing, but there’s a couple little things that I needed to take care of with my body,” Vientos said, referring to a daily routine he worked out with the training staff. “Because the last thing I want is something like that to happen again.”
