Carlos Mendoza Declares Open Competition at First Base amid Mark Vientos' Offensive Woes

First base has been a bit of a revolving door for the Mets. Carlos Mendoza officially confirmed on Saturday that playing time there is up for grabs.

May 31, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Mark Vientos (27) hits a single against the Miami Marlins during the second inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

First base has been a revolving door for the New York Mets this season. While the initial plan was for Jorge Polanco to succeed Pete Alonso there, Polanco's Achilles' bursitis has sidelined him since April, and has thrown the position into chaos.

Mark Vientos has been drawing most of the starts there, but Jared Young's return has added a new factor to the equation. Mets' manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed that Vientos will have to earn his at-bats going forward, calling the situation a "healthy competition".

Carlos Mendoza was asked to assess Mark Vientos' role going forward:

"He's got to compete for at-bats. We've got a healthy competition here... we're going to need him. It's been hard for him the past few weeks, but this is a guy that can carry a team." pic.twitter.com/NZ2lVLNaAB

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 7, 2026

The competition aspect is new for the Mets because, for a while, they had few first-base options outside Vientos. Young's return has certainly muddied the waters at first base and made the position more of a meritocracy.

Mendoza made it clear that he views Vientos, whose future is a bit murky, as part of the solution for the Mets since he has the kind of power to carry a lineup for weeks at a time. Vientos started Saturday night's game as the designated hitter batting seventh while Young got the first base assignment and hit cleanup behind Juan Soto.

How the Mets could divvy up the playing time at first base

The DH spot has been lumped into the first base mix also, with MJ Melendez drawing some at-bats there as well lately. The clear leader at the moment for either spot appears to be Young, who has hit .313 with three home runs, six RBI, and a .944 OPS after returning from a torn meniscus last week.

Young is also the most capable defender at first base, which should give him the lion's share of the playing time. Vientos figures to be the team's preferred option against left-handed pitching, while Melendez figures to mix in primarily as a DH due to his questionable defense.

The immediate future of Polanco, who had been rehabbing his Achilles bursitis with AAA Syracuse, got considerably cloudier on Saturday night when he was scratched from the lineup. WCBS' Keith Raad, one of the Mets radio announcers, reported that the Mets are shutting down Polanco's rehab assignment and will send him back to New York to be re-evaluated.

Jorge Polanco’s rehab assignment for his achilles bursitis has been shut down. He is heading back to New York and the Mets will reevaluate.

— Keith Raad (@KeithRaad) June 7, 2026

While it seems like Polanco is now further away from a return, the Mets could still get Francisco Alvarez back next week from his own knee injury. Alvarez will factor into the catching mix, but the Mets could also consider a return to the arrangement where he serves as a DH with Luis Torrens behind the plate, which would also eat into Vientos' playing time.

The larger problem is that the second half of 2024 is drifting further away from us, meaning Vientos' heater then is looking more like an outlier than the lineup-carrying presence Mendoza described. Making Vientos earn his at-bats is good, but if he can't force his way into the lineup, it is fair to question why he is on the roster in the first place.