Francisco Alvarez, who came up to the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse in April, looks on his way to becoming a star.
Brett Baty followed Alvarez back to the Mets and has seemingly entrenched himself as the starting third baseman, despite some inconsistency.
When Mark Vientos became the third prospect to be summoned from the minors to help address what has been at times an anemic Mets offense, it was unclear where he would fit in, but it was assumed he’d find his way into the lineup.
Instead, the 23-year-old has often found himself left on the bench, while the Mets fall in the NL East standings.
Heading into the series opener against the Cardinals on Friday at Citi Field, Vientos has just 22 plate appearances in seven games since June 1 — and that’s with Pete Alonso on the injured list due to a wrist injury and lefty-swinging Daniel Vogelbach (who was given a mental break by Buck Showalter while in the midst of a 4-for-44 slump) out since June 7.
Vientos started at first base Wednesday in the Mets’ 10-inning win over the Yankees at Citi Field and went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk.
Overall, he hasn’t produced much since his call-up, with no extra-base hits since a home run in his first game with the Mets on May 17, but he also hasn’t gotten much of an opportunity to prove himself. He has somehow yet to start and finish consecutive games in the majors this season and hasn’t started two games in a row since May 30.
Playing in a reserve role, Vientos hasn’t distinguished himself.
After appearing in 16 games with the Mets last season and putting up an OPS of just .546, Vientos has an even worse OPS of .469 this season. Vientos put up a whopping 1.104 OPS in 38 games at Syracuse this season, playing every day and bouncing between first and third base.
“It’s hard to get a read on what kind of player he can be at this level with what he’s been dealing with in the majors,’’ one National League scout said. “Some guys can deal with making the adjustment to the majors and not playing regularly, but not everyone can.’’
Since Alonso’s injury, the righty-hitting Vientos has mostly split time at first base with Mark Canha, also a righty hitter, who is having one of his most productive stretches as a Met over the last two weeks. The Mets have also used another recently improved right-handed hitter, Tommy Pham, at DH on occasion, as well as Alvarez, when he’s not catching.
It all adds up to Vientos often being the odd man out.
Some thought Vientos would be optioned back to Syracuse when Omar Narvaez returned from the IL. Instead, they designated Tomas Nido for assignment and then sent him to Syracuse rather than keeping three catchers on the roster.
The Mets kept Vientos around, but haven’t yet determined how to use him.