Mark Vientos Collects Much-Needed Big Hit Amidst Ongoing Struggles

The first time Mark Vientos batted with the bases loaded on Friday, it ended with him slamming his bat on the ground at home plate.

Just the latest entry in his frustrating, inconsistent season.

The next time he batted with the bases loaded in Friday’s game, he reversed course on what had been a quiet offensive game for the Mets — and perhaps exorcised some personal demons in the process. Vientos’ three-run double jumped the Mets ahead 4-3 in the eighth, as part of a seven-run explosion over the final two innings of an 8-3 win.

“It was huge for us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the game. “It was huge for him, too.”

Vientos is yet to fully get his season off the ground. His campaign has seen some skids and stops, but any potential momentum was halted by a two-week IL stint to nurse a hamstring strain. In 10 games since coming back, entering Friday, Vientos was just 4-for-34.

He’d shown some subtle encouraging signs lately, and Mendoza said as much. He had two hits in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, including a double, and had been hitting the ball hard at times — though often on the ground.

“It’s taken a little bit longer than he wanted it, or we wanted it,” Mendoza said.

When Vientos foul-tipped a sinker up in the zone in the third inning, leaving the bases loaded, it only seemed to amplify his lack of production. The frustration was at its tipping point. The Mets held a 1-0 lead through the fifth inning, but they let that slip away, and the night had all the makings of a third straight loss.

When the Mets loaded the bases again in the eighth, and Pete Alonso struck out to bring up Vientos, it looked like it might be the same old story about their lack of production with runners in scoring position. An out would have meant three more left on for Vientos.

This prospect didn’t scare him.

“I don’t care how bad I’m feeling at the plate,” Vientos said in his postgame TV interview. “I want to be up in that situation every single time.”

On a 2-2 count, Vientos ripped a slider on the outer half into the right-center field gap — going with where it was pitched. It registered off the bat at 107.7 mph. Vientos cleared the bases and sent the Mets into a frenzy. They put the game away, won by five, and dedicated their postgame kick to “Swaggy V.”

He wound up going home a happy camper.

Vientos clears the bases and puts the Mets in front!
pic.twitter.com/YHodgbXC6f

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) July 12, 2025

“I got the opportunity twice, so it was good to redeem myself the second time and be able to do the job for the team,” Vientos told reporters after the game.

Despite the earlier display of frustration, Vientos has tried to keep his spirits up throughout his difficulties. Mendoza expressed clear confidence that Vientos is a quality hitter — and, of course, he has last year’s campaign to back him up. But the team’s support has been the backbone of Vientos’ drive to get it going.

“I’ve got a good group of people around me, pushing for me, keeping me motivated,” Vientos said. “And they have confidence in me, so it feels good to have the team behind my back. I feel like I’ve been working hard and trusting the process.”

At this point in the season, he’s going to need more than a quick flash in the pan or a clutch hit to turn his season entirely around. His metrics are all generally still way down from last year, along with his basic hitting stats. But a clear takeaway from Friday’s heroics — and from his downfalls, too — is that he believes he can be the type of hitter he was last year. So do Mendoza and the team.

And while it was only a couple of at-bats, Vientos showed the signs the Mets need from him. He also added a single in the ninth to the opposite field at 97.2 mph. Friday’s late-night action brought one of Vientos’ lowest lows and highest highs of his season, and it’s those final peaks that he’ll try to build on past the All-Star break to redeem a potential lost season.

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