After accumulating his first career big league game with multiple home runs against the Marlins on Wednesday, Mets’ third baseman Mark Vientos was looking to carry his momentum into a new series against the Phillies that kicked off Thursday night.

In his second plate appearance in the third inning, he came close with a flyout to right field that traveled 100 mph.

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Subsequently, he blasted a game-tying home run in the sixth inning that traveled 381 feet at 96.7 mph. This was his third home run in two games, all coming with two strikes and being down in the count. Only five hitters in MLB this season have that many home runs in similar counts in a week. And Vientos is only the fourth Mets hitter going back to 2002 (extent of FanGraphs search capabilities) to have at least three home runs in a week while being down in the count with two strikes, Pete Alonso (5/20/19-5/26/19), Lucas Duda (7/27/15-8/2/15), and Richard Hidalgo (7/26/04-8/1/04) are the others.

These impressive exit velocities come after fellow Mets’ rookie third baseman Brett Baty spoke about the supportive dynamic between the young players on the team on Wednesday.

“We push each other to hit the ball hard,” Baty said.

While this season has been frustrating for the team as a whole, the recent uptick in performance from Vientos and others has been a sign of positive things to come for next season.

Vientos has not just been hot in these previous two games. In fact, since August 29th, he is 20-for-66 (.303 BA) with six home runs and 10 RBIs. Furthermore, he has a .140 OPS+ in September.

This power surge has been highly encouraging for Vientos, as his struggles were well-documented earlier in the season. As a matter of fact, he batted .178/.225/.244 in 16 games in the first half with one home run and a .469 OPS. Consequently, his recent play can serve as a much-needed confidence boost that can propel him into a productive offseason.

One thing that Vientos should continue to improve is his high strikeout rate. Although the home runs have started coming with a greater frequency lately, the strikeouts have not disappeared. In fact, he has struck out in over 30 percent of his at-bats since August 29th. Since hitting the ball hard is one of Vientos’ most significant assets, he could improve by cutting his strikeout rate and making contact more often.