MIAMI — The Mets’ misfortune with late-season injuries is providing opportunities for some of the organization’s top prospects.
Mark Vientos is the latest to receive his shot. The Mets recalled the power-hitting corner infielder from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, after Starling Marte was placed on the injured list with a partial non-displaced fracture in his right middle finger.
Vientos, 22, owned a .280/.358/.519 slash line with 22 homers and 72 RBIs in 101 games for Syracuse. It’s expected he will factor into a DH equation in which trade-deadline acquisitions Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf have been underwhelming recently.
Last month (after Luis Guillorme was placed on the IL with a groin strain) the Mets promoted highly regarded prospect Brett Baty, who played at third base before he needed surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral in his right thumb.
Vientos was drafted as a third baseman, but organizational officials have been concerned about his defense, perhaps keeping him from receiving an opportunity until now.
Mark Vientos Corey Sipkin for the NY POST“He is a good-looking hitter and he has made improvements defensively and driven a lot of runs, I like that,” manager Buck Showalter said before the Mets faced the Marlins on Saturday. “That is a lot of runs [72] to drive in during a minor league season. We saw him a little bit in the spring and hopefully he can help us.
“He has put together a good year statistically at the plate. We are proud of him and he’s got a chance to be a good one.”
The Mets could use the extra bat as they attempt to awaken offensively. They entered play with four losses in their past six games, all against teams with losing records. That skid had pushed them into second place in the NL East for the first time since April 11 — and the DH spot in particular has been problematic.
Starling Marte Getty ImagesEarly results suggested Vogelbach, in particular, would provide needed lefty punch. But Vogelbach has been among the struggling Mets players lately. He entered Saturday in a 3-for-32 (.094) funk.
“Every year you go through something like this, I was talking to [Francisco] Lindor about it and it just sucks going through it right now in this time,” Vogelbach said. “But I am not panicking at all. It can turn in two or three at-bats. It’s just something that at least from the time I have been here this team does so well and it rubs off on people.
“When I am in the game I just have to battle. Take little victories as a plus, a walk, move a runner. Stuff like that until you get hot again. It could be worse. We could be talking about this at the end of the year like we just got eliminated from the playoffs. We’re going to get out of it. I’m going to get out of it.”
Ruf, acquired from the Giants as the right-handed component at DH, entered play an overall 7-for-45 (.156) since he joined the Mets.
“You feel like you have to prove yourself all over again to a new group of people,” Ruf said. “You can put pressure on yourself that way and I feel like I am doing that a little bit, but hopefully once balls start falling a little bit of that pressure gets off your shoulders.”






