Mets third baseman Mark Vientos got his first action since he landed on the injured list two weeks ago with a hamstring injury.
Vientos served as the DH on Tuesday night for Triple-A Syracuse and looked to kick off the rust from his time on the bench, as he finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Batting in the first inning with a runner on first against right-hander Matt Pushard, Vientos swung through the first two pitches, a 94 mph fastball and a high, looping 79 mph curveball. He hit the next curveball hard (93.6 mph off the bat) but got under it for an easy fly out to center.
He came up again with a runner on first base in the third. This time against righty Josh White, he took a called strike on a slider before working the count to 2-1, laying off a pair of pitches down and off the plate. After fouling a slider the other way, he swung right over a thigh-high slider to end the third frame.
With one out in the sixth, Vientos got nothing but soft stuff from left-hander Josh Simpson and, after fouling off several pitches, reached out and smacked a low-and-away changeup 104 mph off the bat but right at the center fielder. Aside from the hard contact, Vientos’ third at-bat was clearly his best, especially when he took a 1-2 changeup that was just off the outside corner.
In his final at-bat against righty Anderson Pilar, Vientos went down swinging on a 94 mph cutter off the inside corner. He is clearly kicking off a lot of rust after a fortnight on the shelf, as he swung and missed six times in four times up.
The Mets hope the rehab can jolt Vientos back into form, as he had just six hits in his last 36 at-bats (.167) and a .549 OPS in the 12 games before hitting the IL.
He has posted a .230/.298/.380 slashline for a .678 OPS (95 OPS+ and 94 wRC+) through 208 plate appearances in 53 games.
Before the Mets took on the Braves in Atlanta, manager Carlos Mendoza said Vientos will likely have Wednesday off before playing at third base in Thursday night’s game. The Mets will look to get him into back-to-back games and give him time in the field before bringing him back to the big-league roster.
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