Mets' Mark Vientos Must Have Good September

The New York Mets had a disastrous first half of the season following a major roster overhaul due to a historic collapse in 2025, but the team has played much better since the All-Star break.

The Mets carry a 23-20 record since July 17 and have played clean baseball since trading away many of their veteran players, though most of the players dealt weren’t the reason New York wasn’t playing well.

One player who stuck around but wasn’t likely to be moved due to age and injury (fractured hand) is first baseman Mark Vientos, who recently returned to the lineup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 31 after missing 48 games.

Vientos was slashing .211/.256/.388 (.644 OPS) with 11 home runs and 35 RBI at the time of his injury on July 9 but has since gone 4-for-10 (.400 batting average) with two homers and four RBI in four games.

Vientos hasn’t been good on defense, so he has to be swinging a hot bat to positively contribute to the club. He will need to continue his mini hot stretch if he wants to stick in New York and really in Major League Baseball.

“The Mets need a productive month from Mark Vientos simply to feel like his career can get back on track,” ESPN’s Jesse Rogers wrote Thursday. “They've said positive things about him, but now he needs to back that up after missing almost two months with a fractured hand.

“Vientos has been on a steady decline since helping the Mets to the NLCS in 2024, dropping from a career-high 27 home runs that season to just 12 this year.”

Vientos looked like he would be a franchise pillar after his excellent 2024 campaign, clubbing 27 homers and 22 doubles en route to 71 RBI and a slash line of .266/.322/.516 (.837 OPS) in 111 games.

However, his offensive numbers took a massive dip and although the power was still there for the most part, his OPS dropped 135 points to .702. His defense didn’t do him any favors as well, struggling at the hot corner, prompting the team to move him to first base.

He made a couple errors in the game against the Chicago Cubs in which the team made six, a major lowlight for a team that had plenty of them prior to the All-Star break.

Vientos is still just 26-years-old, but time is running out to prove himself as more than just a designated hitter.