In an inconsistent season for the Mets, Mark Vientos has been consistent

To say that it has been a wild year for the New York Mets would be an understatement. They opened the season with an 0-5 start, floundered to 11 games under .500 by June 2, and were suddenly resurrected by a purple mascot (or was it Francisco Lindor’s closed door meeting?). After a scorching hot June and July, the team has come back down to Earth. There have been periods where players went on incredible heaters, like Lindor’s stretch in July. There have been stretches where players have gone cold as ice, like what Brandon Nimmo is battling through right now. The player that has arguably been the most consistent this season is Mark Vientos.

After Brett Baty was unable to lock down the third base job, the position was there for the taking for Vientos. Since breaking into the lineup on May 15, Vientos has ran with the position. Although not a third baseman by trade, he seems to have become more comfortable as the season has gone on. What has really been impressive about Vientos this season is just how well he has struck the ball. From a visual standpoint, he has been hitting balls with a herculean emphasis, sending some massive shots over the fence in centerfield this season. From a statistical measure, he has a barrel percentage of 15.3%, which places him in the 95th percentile across baseball.

Vientos was one of the quiet leaders of the Mets when they made their surge back into relevancy for the 2024 season. His June and July stats are incredibly similar, with an identical stellar .554 slugging, and close June .888 and July .884 OPS marks across those two months. Also crucial was that he drove in runs during that time, cashing in 17 each month. While he has taken a dip during the month of August with a sore left ankle, he seems to be getting back on pace thanks to a two home run game during the Mets 7-6 loss on Thursday. The ability for Vientos to contribute and continue to help manufacture runs will be important for the Mets as they try to stay afloat in the hotly-contested NL Wildcard Race.

The fact that Vientos has been able to produce consistently can have major ramifications on what this team does in the upcoming offseason. The Pete Alonso dilemma has loomed large over the season, and the question of whether or not he is going to be a Met in 2025 has been a hot button topic. A lot has been written about the lower home run total for Alonso in his walk year, and how his home runs seem to come when they can’t make an impact on the game. While Alonso hasn’t had as bad a season as many people are making it out to be, it is not the mammoth numbers that we’re accustomed to seeing from him, leading to speculation that he could be heading out the door at the end of the season.

With Alonso’s lower numbers, could it be possible that the Mets let Alonso walk during free agency, and switch Vientos over to a more natural fit at first? It can’t be ruled out, considering the Mets are undoubtedly preparing to make an unprecedented run at stealing Juan Soto from the rival Yankees. Soto will cost record money, and to spend record money, it sometimes requires you to save elsewhere. With Vientos at first, the Mets can clear the runway to give Baty one more try at third base, or even transition the talented Ronny Mauricio to third if they are looking to stick with internal options.

The emergence of Vientos and his consistent performance at the plate have given the Mets a litany of options on how to handle him and the third base position moving forward. The Norwalk native could be a candidate for an Atlanta Braves-esque extension. Sign Vientos a few years before he hits the market, giving him longer stability and giving yourself a discount in the long run. That type of deal has been made popular with the Jackson Churio’s and Corbin Carroll’s of the world, and could make great sense for a middle of the lineup piece like Vientos.

Bringing the focus back to the 2024 season, the way Vientos plays through this next stretch of games will have a massive impact on whether or not the Mets can make the playoffs. On Thursday, Carlos Mendoza bat Vientos squarely behind Lindor in the lineup, and Vientos produced by mashing two blasts over the wall. Don’t be surprised to see Vientos slotted in that spot more consistently for the rest of the season, as wants Vientos to have as many opportunities as possible to drive runs in for this team.