How Vientos & the rotation got their swag back
David Peterson dominates over eight innings as the Mets win their third straight. Plus, how an x-factor in the lineup is heating up.
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets won their third straight game on Tuesday night, blowing out the Nationals by an 8-1 score (box)
LHP David Peterson was brilliant in a bounce back effort, going eight innings while allowing just a run on four hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts
Peterson has now pitched into the 8th inning five times – no other Mets starter has done it once this season
2B Jeff McNeil went 3-for-4 with a home run (10), double, three RBI, a walk, two runs scored and finished a triple shy of the cycle
DH Mark Vientos homered for the second straight night, clubbing a two-run bomb (9) in the victory
RF Juan Soto went 1-for-4 with a home run (31), walk and two runs scored
New York’s offense has now scored 55 runs over their last eight games (6.88 runs per game)
Prior to the last night’s game, it was revealed that C Francisco Álvarez could potentially miss the rest of the 2025 season with a UCL sprain depending on how he reacts to future rehab appearances
Injury Updates 🏥
C Francisco Álvarez (right thumb UCL sprain) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will be shut down for the next 10-14 days before returning to baseball activities. From there, the club will evaluate if he can effectively play through injury or if he will need to undergo season-ending surgery.
Roster Moves 📰
C Francisco Álvarez placed on 10-day injured list
C Hayden Senger recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
Listen to this week’s episode of The Just Mets Podcast as Rich MacLeod answers fan questions ahead of the final five weeks of the season.
Subscribe for access to full episodes!
Playoff Race 🏁
The Phillies and the Reds both won their games (again) on Tuesday, so the Mets did not gain any ground in the NL East or the NL Wild Card race…
Per FanGraphs, the Mets now have an 84.9% chance to make the playoffs.
Who’s Hot? 🥵
In 10 games in August, Brett Baty is hitting .344/.389/.594 with three home runs, six RBI, a stolen base and eight runs scored
Play of the Game 🌟
The bottom of the third inning proved to be the biggest for the Mets on Tuesday night. After three runs were already in, Mark Vientos stepped up to the plate and crushed a ball into the seats in left field to cap off a five-run frame.
For the Mets, it essentially put this game to bed early on. But for Vientos, he’s now 3-for-7 with two home runs and six RBI over his last two games. It may be a minuscule sample size but if this is a signal that Vientos could be returning anything close to the form he showed last season, that would be monumental for this team.
But more on that below…
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Brandon Sproat (No. 5 prospect, Triple-A): 6 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 8 K
SS Luisangel Acuña (Triple-A): 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, SB (5), 2 runs scored
SS Antonio Jimenez (No. 18 prospect, Single-A): 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (67-58) at Nationals (50-75)
Where: Nationals Park — Washington D.C.
Starters: RHP Kodai Senga (7-4, 2.35 ERA) vs. RHP Brad Lord (3-6, 3.26 ERA)
When: 6:45 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The return of Swaggy V? ✍️
With the news that Francisco Álvarez would be gone for several weeks – if not the rest of the season – dropping on Tuesday evening, the Mets were in need of another unexpected hero stepping into the picture.
Perhaps that unexpected hero is a guy who has already played that role once before… Mark Vientos.
It’s undoubtedly been an incredibly tough go of it for Vientos – who clubbed 27 home runs and become a postseason start for the Mets just one year ago – from day one of this season. The power-hitting third baseman started the season going just 2-for-his-first-27 (.074) at the plate with no home runs and a single RBI, and it never really got much better from there.
Overall, the 25-year-old’s numbers pale in comparison to what he brought to the club a year ago, as he’s hitting just .232/.278/.381 with nine home runs, 14 doubles, 38 RBI, 75 strikeouts, 19 walks and a .659 OPS this season.
While some may have been expecting Vientos to come back to Earth a bit after last season’s breakout campaign, few could have ever expected it to become such a disastrous fall from grace. His struggles at the plate, and in the field, eventually caused him to lose the starting third base job in what has largely become a three-man platoon between Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio.
This led to tons of buzz at the trade deadline surrounding Vientos, with many believing that the organization would be keen on dealing him by July 31st. Ultimately, though, the Mets hung onto Vientos (for the time being, at least) because of his diminished value.
And maybe, just maybe, that non-deal could wind up being a blessing in disguise.
All of a sudden – in, we admit, an exceedingly small sample size – we have begun to see a bit of a return to form from Vientos, as he’s now homered in back-to-back games with six RBI. This is notable because Vientos had homered just seven total times prior to this past Sunday night, and it is now the first time since mid-April that he’s hit home runs in two consecutive games.
As we said earlier, the sophomore slump isn’t all that surprising from Vientos – but the massive lack of power sure has been the most shocking part.
And while we shouldn’t be overreacting to a two-game sample size in a 162-game baseball season, it is certainly notable when a power hitter that has been sapped of his biggest attribute homers in back-to-back games for the first time in over four months. For those keeping track, 22 percent of Vientos’ home runs this season have come since Sunday night.
Confidence is a key attribute for any players, especially in baseball, but for Vientos it seems to be an even bigger key. For the man who was dubbed “Swaggy V” last season, there have virtually no moments this year where we’ve seen any of that swagger from last year carry over.
Off the backs of his two biggest performances at the plate of the year, is that enough for Vientos to start building that confidence back?
“I know it’s there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after Tuesday night’s win. “We saw it last year. He’s a really good player, and it’s been hard for him. I said it before the game – we’re gonna need him.”
For a player that has been jockeyed around an awful lot this season, there is suddenly a lot of opportunity here for Vientos. Between third base, which remains a rotation between himself and Baty, and the DH spot, which is most often split between Vientos and Starling Marte, there are two positions where the slugger can find playing time.
Factor in that Marte can’t play every day at this stage of his career, Baty has the defensive versatility to move around the diamond, and that the Mets now have a greater need for additional offense with Álvarez going down, and there are plenty of different avenues for Vientos to stay in this lineup on an every day basis.
All he has to do, of course, is perform. The best part is the Mets don’t need him to be Yoenis Céspedes or to carry this team for an entire season, they just need him to resemble even 50 percent of the player they know that he can be for the next 37 games.
If these last few games, and his overall solid last month (.740 OPS since July 10th) can get this kid’s confidence going again, it could potentially be a massive x-factor for this lineup down the stretch of this pennant race.
Around the League 🚩
The Phillies won their third straight, thanks to a go-ahead two-run homer from JT Realmuto in the 8th to sink the Mariners
Reds CF TJ Friedl clubbed a go-ahead two-run home run in the 9th as Cincinnati won their third straight game and defeated the Angels, 6-4
The Cubs swept a double header vs the Brewers as they look to claw their way back into the NL Central race
Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer pitched six solid innings as Toronto knocked off the Pirates, 7-3
Yankees DH Aaron Judge clubbed his 40th home run of the season as the Bombers offense erupted in a win vs. the Rays
Tigers 2B Gleyber Torres drew a walk-off walk with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to defeat the Astros, 1-0
The Braves offense continued their white hot run as they scored seven runs in their final two innings to come back and beat the White Sox by an 11-10 score
Vientos is the X factor now that Alvy is probably done for the season. Marte can DH against tough lefties when Baty sits.
What was particularly hopeful in Viento's 2 HR, 7RBI last two games was the placement, all with the game still on the line ... not just piling on at the end