Mark

Vientos

Vientos’ two two-run home runs bookended this game as he hit one in the first inning and then walked it off in the 10th. While not talked about much, he’s been one of the best stories in baseball this season. The Mets season turned around not long after he was named a starter in the middle of May and his .905 OPS is the highest of any third baseman in the league. He could go from triple-A to a silver slugger in just four short months.

Jose Iglesias is starting at third base. Vientos had started 14 straight games since missing a couple of days with a sore ankle earlier this month.

Vientos put New York ahead with a seventh-inning solo shot off Orioles veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel to reach the 20-homer threshold for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old slugger has emerged as New York’s everyday option at the hot corner moving forward and looks like a legitimate 30-plus homer threat annually. He’s a borderline top 10 fantasy third baseman heading into fantasy drafts next spring.

Vientos hit his first homer off Mitch Spence, and it was a two-run blast. He hit his second homer of the day and 19th of the season off Michel Otanez in the fourth inning. Vientos has some real-life flaws, but the power is legit, and he could be a consistent 30-homer player if he does enough of the little things to justify him being in the lineup.

Vientos remains out of New York’s lineup for the second straight contest due to left ankle soreness, but Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters he should be available off the bench, if needed, before returning to the lineup on Wednesday. The 24-year-old slugging third baseman has hit a bit of a rough patch at the dish of late, batting .196 (11-for-56) with five homers over his last 15 games, so the extra time off isn’t exactly the worst thing. He’s been excellent this season, batting .270 (68-for-252) with a career-high 17 homers and 44 RBI across 70 games.

It doesn’t sound like the injury is anything too severe and it shouldn’t require a trip to the injured list. Vientos should be considered day-to-day. Jose Iglesias will start in his place at the hot corner and will bat seventh for the Mets against Luis Castillo and the Mariners on Sunday night in Seattle.

Vientos cemented the blowout with a two-run shot off Peter Lambert that gave the Mets a 7-0 lead. The 24-year-old has shown off the power all year with 17 homers and an impressive .543 slugging mark in 245 at-bats for the Mets in 2024.

Vientos is back at third base and batting fifth on Tuesday following a one-game absence after fouling a ball off his right ankle over the weekend. It doesn’t sound like a massive concern moving forward and it’s a welcome development for fantasy managers as the Mets kick off a series at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Vientos provided all the offense for New York on Wednesday, taking Pablo Lopez deep for a two-run homer in the second inning for the only two runs the team would score in the loss. The 24-year-old third baseman is up to 16 homers with 42 RBI while slashing .286/.341/.563 across 246 plate appearances.

Vientos hit a 407-foot shot off of the Twins’ David Festa in the fifth inning to push the Mets’ lead to 2-0. It was the 15th homer of the season for Vientos, who has now hit safely in three-straight games with three extra-base hits over that span.