QUEENS, NY — New York Mets third baseman and designated hitter Mark Vientos has no inflammation in his injured hamstring and has already resumed some baseball activities, manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed on Tuesday ahead of his team’s series opener against the Washington Nationals.
“He’s doing better,” Mendoza said. “Inflammation is gone now. He’s already hitting in the cages, light jogging. I think he’s going to take some groundballs right at him. So we’re going to build him back up with some baseball activity and progressing accordingly.”
Mendoza added that Vientos “most likely” will need a minor-league rehab assignment before making his return.
“We’ll talk about it with the trainers, we’ll talk to [president of baseball operations David Stearns, obviously we’ll talk to Mark,” Mendoza said. “But as I’m sitting right here, I’m thinking he’s going to have to play some games down there.”
Vientos suffered the hamstring injury during the 10th inning of the Mets’ June 2 game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, when he fell running out of the batter’s box on a groundball.
After an initial fear that this could be a long-term injury, including Mendoza’s admittance that it “didn’t look good,” tests on Wednesday proved that it was a low-grade strain of the area.
Vientos’ second full season in the big leagues has been a struggle after hitting 27 home runs in 2024. He was slashing .230/.298/.380 (.678 OPS) with six home runs and 21 RBI in 53 games before his injury.
Ronny Mauricio was called up after Vientos was placed on the 10-day injured list. He and third baseman Brett Baty have been getting the bulk of infield playing time while Luisangel Acuna remains in more of a utility role. He has not started a game since Thursday and once again was out of the lineup on Tuesday after Mendoza hinted on Sunday that he would be in.
“That’s the balance we’re dealing with here,” Mendoza said. “It’s a good problem to have here… I could go a lot of different ways when I’m making out the lineup. They’ll continue to get chances.
“[Acuna’s] got a role right now. He’s helping us win a baseball game here. We’re always trying to put that on the table and say, ‘OK, what’s best for the kid? What’s best for the team?’ Right now, we feel like he continues to contribute.”
