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 an RBI single off the Pirates Eric Stout. On September 24th, Viento hit his first career HR, a solo shot off Oakland's Ken Waldichuk in a 10-4 Mets loss.

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 homered with 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.

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more