{"id":83899,"date":"2024-08-23T17:26:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=83899"},"modified":"2024-08-23T17:27:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T21:27:23","slug":"mark-vientos-mets-breakout-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/23\/mark-vientos-mets-breakout-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Mets Infielder&#8217;s Breakout Season in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vientma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Vientos<\/a> has been the breakout player and a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/18\/five-mets-players-to-watch-rest-of-2024\/\" target=\"_self\">must-watch<\/a> attraction for the New York Mets. Vientos has exploded with his power and average, doing things the Mets never knew he could. In only 80 games played, Vientos would lead nine out of the thirty teams in home runs.<\/p>\n<h2>How Mark Vientos Became Mets Breakout Player in 2024<\/h2>\n<h3>Vientos Has Become a Much Better Hitter<\/h3>\n<p>Last season, Mark Vientos would swing out of his shoes, always looking for an extra-base hit or a homer. He was able to rack up nine homers in 65 games. However, he had a lousy average of .211. In 2024, Vientos has racked up 20 homers, 54 RBI, and a solid average of .282.<\/p>\n<p>He has taken a calm approach in 2024 and has used his power for not just home runs but hits. The 6\u20194\u2019\u2019, 24-year-old already has power that he can use to hit homers, so overswinging is not necessary. He has used that strategy to hit doubles and singles, drive in runs, and get in scoring position. His base running has been below average this season. However, his offensive play in other areas continues to make up for that. The number of strikeouts this season is a little down, and his walks are up, showing his ability not to chase as much. Since joining the Mets, Vientos is tied for the team lead in home runs with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lindofr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Francisco Lindor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">With his double last night, Mark Vientos became the third Met this season to tally 20 homers and 20 doubles ? <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/devhfStUZA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/devhfStUZA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNY_Mets\/status\/1827028028813152488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Vientos Has Been a Lot Better Defensively<\/h3>\n<p>At first, Mark Vientos struggled to play well at third base. However, he has since settled in at the hot corner. He has not been as good defensively as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/batybr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brett Baty<\/a> would have been, but he has gotten much better. Vientos has gotten stronger at the position and has more than enough arm strength to throw out base runners. He has also improved at fielding ground balls. Vientos has been able to make splendid catches in foul territory, showing that he is, in fact, an MLB-level third baseman.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Mark Vientos makes the over-the-shoulder catch and avoids a collision with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lindofr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Francisco Lindor<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tK72VZak8C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/tK72VZak8C<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SNY (@SNYtv) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNYtv\/status\/1822465869668143238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Vientos Could Play Different Positions in the Future<\/h3>\n<p>Last year, Vientos played only 19 of his 65 games at third base. He tallied 37 games as DH and 10 as New York\u2019s first baseman. Although he has only played one game as a DH and four games as a first baseman this season, he can play these positions in the future. If <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alonspe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pete Alonso<\/a> were ever to walk away from New York, Vientos could fill in the void at first base, and New York could use either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mauriro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronny Mauricio<\/a> or Baty in the infield. Also, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/martijd02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.D. Martinez<\/a> is now 37, meaning that the chances of New York re-signing him are not too likely. Vientos, who could DH in the future, would again allow New York to use other players in the infield.<\/p>\n<p>There has been a combination of factors that have led Mark Vientos to become a breakout star. When all is said and done, without Vientos, the Mets would just not be in the position they are.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This season, Mark Vientos has been the breakout player and a must-watch attraction for the New York Mets. Vientos has exploded with his power and average, doing things the Mets never knew he could. In only 80 games played, Vientos would lead nine out of the thirty teams in home runs. How Mark Vientos Became [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5176,"featured_media":83944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1071],"tags":[380,1547,1378,2402,3866],"class_list":["post-83899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mets","category-mlb","tag-francisco-lindor","tag-j-d-martinez","tag-mark-vientos","tag-pete-alonso","tag-ronny-mauricio"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}