Mark Vientos: Mets Designated Hitter / Infielder (2022 - 2024)

Mark Anthony Vientos was born December 11th, 1999, in Norwalk, Connectuct. His family moved him to South Florida where he attended high school at Pembrook Pines & Plantation. He grew up a Mets fan due to his father who was born in the Dominican Republic.

Minor Leagues: In 2017 he was signed out of high school, by the New York Mets in the second round of the draft as the 59th overall pick. He played at A Ball for two seasons, getting named the 2019 Mets Minor League Player of the Year. After the Covid 19- 2020 season was cancelled, he was promoted to AA Binghamton. In 2021 he hit 22 HRs in 72games then got promoted to AAA Syracuse.

In 2022 he played in the Futures Game along with Mets future catcher Francisco Alvarez. At AAA he Syracuse he batted .280 with 24 HRs & 72 RBIs. With Pete Alonso at first base & Eduardo Escobar at third base, Vientos would have a tough time getting into the Mets line up. 

He was better known for his hitting, so was more fit for a designated hitter role. With Dom Smith
& JD Davis struggling fans were awaiting his arrival. But when the Mets acquired Daniel Vogelbach, his chances became slimmer.

MLB Debut: Vientos was brought up in September debuting in a 9-3 win over the Marlins in South Florida going 0-5. 

On September 15th, he collected his first career hit a pinch-hit RBI single off the Pirates Eric Stout. 

On September 24th, Viento hit his first career HR, a solo shot off the A's Ken Waldichuk in a 10-4 Mets loss at Oakland.

2023: He began the year at AAA Syracuse & would be brought up twice during the Mets disappointing season. He would fill in at first base when Pete Alonso was injured in June, then play in the DH role behind Daniel Vogelbach & Tommy Pham. After Pham's departure & the Mets selling off some of their veteran players, he saw more playing time toward the end of the season.

In his first game on May 17th, Vientos became the seventh youngest Met to homer in his first game of the season, as he hit a two-run shot off the Rays Ryan Thompson in an 8-7 win, highlighted by Pete Alonso's walk off HR.

Vientos struggled as did the Mets team, he was batting just .178 in mid-June & was sent back down to AAA Syracuse.

In July he was brought up to replace the injured Starling Marte on the roster. He collected seven hits in his first seven games back up, getting over the .200 mark to .227.

On August 29th he drove in the only run of a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers with a solo HR off
Aroldis Chapman. But at the end of August, he was hitting back under the .200 mark & never got above it. Two games later he homered again in an 8-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners. 

Multi HR Game: On September 20th, he had his first multi-HR game in an 8-3 win over the Marlins in South Florida. Vientos hit two solo HRs, one off pitcher Eury Perez & the other off George Soriano.

He would hit another HR the next night in a 5-4 loss to the Phillies. On September 27th he hit his 9th HR of the year but was still batting just .220.

In September he was third amongst rookies with six HRs in the month. Vientos also drove in 11 runs on the month.

On the season he batted a disappointing .167 with one double, one HR three RBIs & three runs scored.

2024: Vientos started the year getting optioned to AAA Syracuse. At the end of April he was called up when Starling Marte went down with injury.

Walk Off HR: On April 28th, in his second came back he returned in heroic fashion. In the bottom of the 9th inning of a 1-1 tie with the Cardinals, he singled as a pinch hitter but was left stranded on base. In the bottom of the 11th, after Harrison Bader tied the game with an RBI single, Vientos hit a walk off two run HR off Mathew Liberatore for an exciting Mets win. 

Vientos was sent back down when Marte returned, but Bret Baty wasn't working out at third base & Vientos was brought back up. Upon his return he collected two hits with an RBI in a loss at Philadelphia. As the Mets were struggling in May, Vientos hit well enough to bat .310 with two HRs & six RBIs taking over the third base position.

As the Mets team got hot at the start of June so did Vientos. From May 31st to June 12th, he
batted .353 with a dozen hits & driving in ten runs in a ten-game span. 

On May 31st he collected his first three hit game, driving in two runs in a 10-9 win over Arizona. The next game he hit his fourth HR of the season, in a loss at home to Arizona. On June 3rd, he hit his fifth HR of the season, coming off the Nats Mackenzie Gore in an 7-6 win at D.C. From there Vientos drove in runs in three straight games. 

On June 18th, Vientos started the Mets scoring with a 2nd inning HR off the Rangers Michael Lorenzen in a 8-7 win at Texas. Vientos would have his second three hit game, as he singled in the 5th, then again in the 7th & scored runs both times.

Multi HR Game: In the first game of the Mets subway series sweep, Vientos had his first multi-HR game, hitting two solo shots off Gerit Cole in the 9-7 Mets win at Citi Field. The two hits on the night got his season average up to .297.

The next night, he drew a bases loaded walk off Yoendrys Gomez, in the Mets four run 5th inning, then added an RBI single in the 8th inning of the Mets 12-2 blow out to complete the two game sub series sweep at Citi Field.

From June 29th to July 5th, he drove in runs in five straight games with HRs against the Astros & Nationals, while driving in seven runs. His HR off the Astros Framber Valdez was his tenth of the year.

On July 12th, Vientos hit his 12th HR of the year coming off the Rockies Tanner Gordon, he also collected an RBI double in the Mets 7-6 win at Citi Field. 

Subway Series Sweep: On July 24th. as the Mets swept the subway series in the Bronx, for their four straight win over the AL New York team, Vientos hit his third HR of those subway series games, with an 8th inning solo shot off Tim Hill. 

In that six-run 8th inning, Vientos later added an RBI sac fly topping off the Mets 12th run of the 12-2 win. In the four-game series he collected four hits, three HRs & six RBIs.

In the first game of a big series with Atlanta at Citi Field, Mark followed up a 3rd inning J.D. Martinez grand slam HR with at two run shot of his own off the Braves Charlie Morton. Francisco Alvarez added a HR in the three HR seven run inning. The Mets won the game 8-4 & tied for the lead wild spot card after being ten games behind the Braves a month ago.

Quotes- Mark Vientos: "Feels great for sure. Feels like a couple of months ago everyone was down in the dumps. A lot of baseball left. All we can do is pat ourselves on the back real quick & get back to work."

Hobbies: Vientos enjoys playing ping-pong & has his own table at his home.