Vientos (hand) homers in rehab game

Vientos picked up right where he left off after homering three times during his final minor league rehab contest at Triple-A Syracuse over the weekend, taking Rays southpaw Ian Seymour deep in the seventh inning for his 12th big fly of the season. It was his lone hit in four at-bats. He’s capable of doing damage against left-handed starters, which gives him some limited appeal in deeper fantasy leagues for the final month of the year.

Vientos is at DH and hitting cleanup for Monday’s series opener against the Rays after missing just over seven weeks recovering from a fractured right hand. It’s fair to wonder how the hand injury will impact his results, especially from an on-field power perspective over the final month of the season. He’s been a non-factor for fantasy purposes this season, hitting .211 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 254 plate appearances.

It wasn’t even the headline for the game, though, since six Syracuse pitchers combined to no-hit Lehigh Valley. Tobias Myers got the most outs of the six, working three innings. Vientos is 9-for-23 with five homers on his rehab assignment from a fractured hand. The Mets don’t seem to have big plans for him in September, but there’s a chance he’ll force the issue. He likely will need Juan Soto, currently DHing after his calf injury, to return to the outfield in order to get significant playing time.

The 26-year-old slugger has been sidelined since just before the All-Star break after suffering a fracture in his right hand. He’s likely to remain there at least through the weekend before rejoining the Mets at some point next week. Before landing on the injured list, Vientos was slashing just .211/.256/.388 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 254 plate appearances.

He’ll miss several weeks, perhaps enough to knock him out until September. Vientos hasn’t been much of a regular since his 2024 breakout, and proved completely unable to hit right-handed pitchers when given the chance during Jorge Polanco’s absence. He can be dropped in most fantasy leagues at this point.

He’s “obviously going to miss weeks” per DiComo. Vientos has struggled this year, hitting .211/.253/.388 with 11 homers — and just .169/.215/.297 in 158 plate appearances against right-handers. The Mets may do the simple thing and add Ronny Mauricio back to the roster here for the weekend, but it’s possible they’ll look for a replacement first baseman.

Vientos took Chris Sale deep for a two-run homer in the sixth inning to cut into the Braves’ lead. It wouldn’t matter much as Atlanta pushed their lead to 11 runs by the time Vientos added a base hit in the ninth. The 26-year-old first baseman is almost exclusively playing against left-handed pitching on a short-side platoon. He’s hitting .213/.252/.391 with 11 homers, 25 runs scored, and 35 RBI across 250 plate appearances.

The Mets are simply easing Lindor back into a full-time workload after missing so much time with his calf injury. Bo Bichette will slide over and cover shortstop while Mark Vientos starts at the hot corner on Sunday afternoon against Phillies’ southpaw Jesus Luzardo.

Mauricio fractured his left thumb on May 3rd and was expected to miss six to eight weeks, so he’s right on track in his recovery. With how much the Mets’ bats have slumped, it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to come back and push Brett Baty, Eric Wagaman, or Jared Young back to the minors. Mark Vientos has no minor league options left, which is why he will likely remain.

With left-hander Nick Lodolo on the mound, the Mets will turn to Mark Vientos at first base and bat him fifth. Zack Short will also play shortstop and bat ninth, with Bo Bichette moving to third base and Brett Baty getting the day off. Young had been hitting well for the Mets, but he’s slashing just .147/.194/.265 over his last 10 games. He’s not the answer at first base.