After slow start at plate, Mark Vientos back looking like player Mets expected

Mark Vientos’ early-season struggles appear to officially be behind him. 

The Mets’ young slugger is finally settling into a groove at the plate — putting together back-to-back multi-hit showings to helpsecure a big three-game series victory over the first-place Cubs. 

Vientos’ first knock on Sunday was a huge one — he put New York back in front in the sixth after Chicago evened things up on a solo shot from former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong during the top half of the inning. 

It was Vientos’ seventh homer of the year, which continued his Mother’s Day success. 

“That’s mommy power right there,” he joked postgame. “That one was for my mom. Crazy stat for you, but I feel like the past five years I’ve hit four home runs on Mother’s Day, so mommy power is real.”

Real or not, the Mets will certainly take it — and the rest of the lineup was able to use some mommy power of their own later in the contest to regain the lead after the Cubs evened things up for a second time.  

Francisco Lindor crushed a go-ahead home run into the bullpen leading things off, then Pete Alonso laced a double into the left-field corner and Vientos drove him home with a single, before Brandon Nimmo capped off a four-run inning with a two-run shot. 

Vientos finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in.

After looking extremely lost at the plate early on this season, he’s now hitting a strong .311 with five home runs and a .912 OPS over his last 20 games.

“I’ve just been competing,” Vientos said. “I’m just trying not to give away any pitch or any at-bat. It’s contagious that our whole team isn’t giving any ABs away and I’m just going up there trying to do the same thing.”

“His at-bats have been a lot better,” Carlos Mendoza added. “We’ve seen a lot of that this year he just wasn’t getting the results, finally today it was there — it’s good to see him being the player we know he’s capable of.”

The turnaround comes at a perfect time for Vientos, as Brett Baty has returned to the big leagues with a power surge — crushing three home runs in two games since being called back up from Triple-A. 

Though playing time may become a bit tricky with so many hot bats and only a handful of open lineup spots, the skipper is confident they’ll find way to get it done. 

“We’ll find room,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been saying it, there’s 13 guys there. It doesn’t matter the nine that you put out there you feel good about your chances. That’s my job and that’s our job to continue to put these guys in good positions — we have a lot of good options.”

One of those options is using Vientos as the designated hitter while Baty slots in at the hot corner — the route they took on Saturday night when Baty hit two of those homers and drove in five runs. 

Vientos says he’d absolutely be open to the idea: “Whatever gets the team wins, I’m all for it.”

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