Mets Star Rookie Vientos Continues Hitting Surge

The New York Mets are using September as a time to see what some of their young prospects and star rookies can do as they close out the 2023 season.

Multiple call-ups have resulted in promising play from these players making some of their first appearances at the MLB level.

Mets rookie Mark Vientos is no exception, continuing to showcase the power in his bat that is one of the best on the team.

Wednesday night, his power was on full display, having his first career multi-home run game when he blasted one that went 367 feet and another that traveled 417 feet.

According to data, a game like this was coming for Vientos.

Matt DiComo of MLB.com writes, "The rookie entered play on Wednesday boasting the highest average exit velocity of any Met; on average, he was putting the ball in play roughly 4 mph harder than even Pete Alonso. Only eight Major Leaguers had a higher figure with at least 100 balls put in play, including Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuña Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Matt Olson and Corey Seager."

Those players are all superstars in this league with multiple years of MLB experience under their belts.

That's not the case for New York's rookie who has only played 72 games entering Thursday.

"He hasn’t had a ton of at-bats in the league yet. Getting at-bats up here and getting exposure is a massive component to it. Then it’s just continuing to try to clean up the path a little bit to where some of the foul balls turn into hits, some of the swings and misses turn into foul balls," hitting coach Jeremy Barnes told DiComo.

Much of this surge is from Vientos settling into Major League Baseball.

"I feel just comfortable. That’s the game. You have your rough stretches, then you have your times when you’re really good. Right now, I’m feeling really good, and I just want to take it to the end of the season," the rookie said.

He'll have 10 more games to continue producing as he vies for a spot on the 2024 Opening Day roster.