Mets Rumors: Mark Vientos Called Up by NY; Hitting .333 with Triple-A Syracuse

The New York Mets are calling up prospect Mark Vientos, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

MLB.com ranks the 23-year-old as the seventh-best player in New York's farm system.

Vientos has appeared in 38 games in Triple-A for the Syracuse Mets this season, where he has mostly split his time between first and third base. He's batting .333 and slugging .688 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI.

The 2017 second-round pick made his MLB debut in 2022. He struggled in his brief cameo, posting a .546 OPS in 41 plate appearances.

Vientos showed signs of improvement in spring training, finishing with a .278/.310/.481 slash line across 23 games. D.J. Short of NBC Sports highlighted one important area where he has made strides in Triple-A as well.

His promotion comes as the Mets are 20-23, 6.5 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

The superstar pairing of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer isn't performing well, with both aces sporting a FIP north of 5.00. Kodai Senga, the other major addition to the starting rotation along with Verlander, is only performing marginally better and is averaging 5.6 walks per nine innings.

The Mets might be stuck until their pitching gets better.

Vientos can at least help an offense that isn't playing up to expectations either. New York ranks 17th in wOBA (.312) and 15th in wRC+ (101), per FanGraphs.

Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty, two of the franchise's other top prospects, have been underwhelming. Álvarez is batting just .216, and Baty's hot start in Triple-A hasn't translated to the bigs as he's slugging .397.

As it relates to Vientos, Pete Alonso and his .849 OPS aren't going anywhere, and benching Baty may not be the right call because he still figures to be an important long-term piece in the lineup.

If the Mets intend to make their newest addition an everyday player, then designated hitter—or moving Alonso to DH and playing him at first—is the most obvious route.