Mark

Vientos

All three of Vientos’ hits in the contests were singles and he didn’t factor into the scoring of the club’s lone run in the ballgame. The 25-year-old slugger is off to a nice start in Grapefruit League play, hitting .294 (5-for-17), though he’s still looking for his first round-tripper. Vientos has found himself going just inside the top 100 players overall in recent fantasy drafts, making him the eighth option off the board at the third base position.

Nimmo, who said he’s turned the corner in his recovery from plantar fasciitis, played left field and batted fourth today. The cleanup spot would probably belong to Mark Vientos if handedness was not a factor, but as is, it makes sense to slot the left-handed Nimmo in between Pete Alonso and Vientos, at least against righties. Vientos actually finished last year batting second, but that is Juan Soto’s spot now.

Nothing has been finalized at this early stage of spring training, but Mendoza’s latest musing re-affirms the widely-held belief that Lindor will remain in the leadoff spot, which he did 109 times last season. Soto’s on-base and power skills make the most sense in the second spot, which should provide middle-of-the-order run producers Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos with plenty of RBI opportunities with a pair of NL MVP candidates setting the table.

Sherman adds that the Mets have already begun to pivot away from the Polar Bear by re-signing Jesse Winker to a one-year, $7.5 million contract and will make a run at signing lefty closer Tanner Scott, the top reliever left on the open market. We can’t totally dismiss the possibility that Alonso or the Mets make a last-ditch effort in the coming weeks, but it sounds increasingly unlikely that he’s going to return to New York. Sherman notes that barring a last-minute reversal, New York is planning to move Mark Vientos to first base with Luisangel Acuña, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio battling for the starting job at the hot corner.

Vientos took Ryan Brasier deep in the fourth inning to make it a 6-3 game. It was the fifth homer of the postseason, but unfortunately for the Mets the last with Los Angeles winning the series 4-2. Vientos had a very strong regular season, but was at a different level this October with a slash of .327/.362/.636. Vientos should be a strong fantasy option for 2025 and beyond.

Vientos’ home run was his fourth of the playoffs. He hit a solo shot off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning. Vientos now has 12 RBI in the postseason. The Mets have fallen behind 3-1 in the series, but Vientos has done all he can to help the team. He’s hitting .370 with a 1.070 OPS in October.

The slam came in a 2-0 game after the Mets walked Francisco Lindor with first base open and two outs in the second. To be fair, Lindor did homer in the first. That was off opener Ryan Brasier, though, and the Dodgers had Landon Knack in the game at that point. Lindor may have a postseason advantage over Vientos with all of his experience, but the choice was between two guys with very similar regular-season numbers, and all margin for error was gone with the bases loaded, whereas there would have been some with the base open working to Lindor. After the homer, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pretty much gave up on winning this one, saving all of his best relievers for Wednesday’s Game 3. Walker Buehler and Luis Severino are the scheduled starters then.

Vientos has been the Mets’ best hitter in the playoffs. He added another two hits against the Phillies in Game 3 Tuesday. The 24-year-old third baseman is hitting .417 with a 1.148 OPS and seven RBI in 24 at-bats this postseason.

After doubling to right in the first inning, Vientos went the other way again in the third with a runner on to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Six innings later, he tied the game in the ninth with a two-run blast to left off Matt Strahm at 6-6. The 24-year-old is off to a nice start to the postseason with seven RBI in the first five games of the playoffs, and he should continue to hit near the top of the lineup as long as New York is alive.

Vientos came up huge with an RBI single off Jeff Hoffman in the eighth inning to tie the game at 1-1. The 24-year-old hasn’t shown much power in the first four games of the postseason with no extra-base hits, but he has been able to hit .313 in that timeframe.