The New York Mets are having an outstanding season.

Clearly, the addition of slugger Juan Soto doesn’t hurt.

Another slugger, Pete Alonso, is off to a tremendous start, with nine home runs.

All is not roses, however, with the Mets lineup.

Third baseman Mark Vientos is struggling to find the consistent hitting groove he perfected last season.

But there are signs of life with his bat.

Vientos homered among his two hits Sunday May 11.

The right-handed hitting Vientos, still only 25, hit 27 homers, and drove in 71 runs in 454 plate appearances.

Vientos had a breakout year in 2024.

Here is what Vientos told MLB.com about his emergence last year, ““It’s been amazing, obviously,” Vientos said. “It’s almost like a dream I had for a while. It’s something that I’ve been visualizing and it’s happening.”

Mark Vientos is 6-4, with a rather wiry 185 pound frame.

Vientos doesn’t look like a power hitter, but he does have strength in his hands, wrists, and forearms.

Vientos was a second round selection of the Mets in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.

Chosen out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, Vientos received a $1.5 million signing bonus from the Mets, which kept him away from playing baseball at the University of Miami.

Vientos spent parts of 7 seasons in his minor league development. When he was promoted by the Mets to make his MLB debut on September 11, 2022, Vientos had a minor league stat line of .277/.349/.500/.849, with 113 doublers, four triples, 98 home runs, and 355 RBIs.

Moving quickly through his minor league development program, Vientos graduated to the parent Mets at the age of 22. He played in 16 games that first season.

Last year, Vientos really broke through. He struck out 133 times in those 454 plate appearances, but he also drew 33 walks.

Last year, Vientos used his quick bat to get backspin on the ball, using the entire field with loud line drives to the gaps and over the walls and fences.

Here is an article this writer posted about Vientos last year:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/berniepleskoff/2024/06/04/power-is-the-calling-card-for-young-new-york-mets-mark-vientos/

This old scout had a chance to observe Vientos in a recent series the Mets played against the Arizona Diamondbacks May 5, and May 6. Vientos did not play the third game of the series, May 7.

In his two games in Arizona, Vientos got two hits in eight plate appearances. Both were singles. He did not drive the ball. Rather, he took pitches where they were thrown, with both singles going to right field.

Vientos was not in the lineup when the Mets returned home May 8 against the Chicago Cubs.

Vientos did miss time this year with a groin injury. That may be an issue.

Brett Baty played third base May 7, 9. and 10.

Vientos returned to the Mets lineup May 10 as the designated hitter.

Vientos played third base May 11, when he homered off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd.

To this observer, Vientos occasionally appears to press at the plate. He looks like he wants to hit a five-run homer every plate appearance. His swing gets long, and aggressive.

Perhaps Vientos lost confidence, but his May 11 homer may help..

Whatever the case, Mark Vientos is still not hitting like he did last year.

But Vientos is showing improvement. And that’s huge.