Mark Vientos, Photo by Peter McClelland

During the month of June, New York Mets infield prospect Mark Vientos has been absolutely tearing the cover off the ball for Double-A Binghamton.

Vientos was named the Double-A Northeast Player of the Week on Monday afternoon after hitting five home runs, recording 10 RBI, and posting a slash-line of .400/.500/1.200 during the teams recent five game series with the Reading Fightin Phils.

Vientos is now slashing .261/.327/.577 with nine doubles and 32 RBI in 37 games on the season. He has also already tied his career high with 11 home runs, a mark he originally set in 111 games with the Columbia Fireflies during the 2019 season.

His recent hot stretch has left him up there amongst the league leaders for the season. Vientos currently sits in sixth in the Double-A Northeast Division with a .577 slugging percentage, ninth with a .904 OPS, and his 11 long balls are tied for the third most in the division.

While these are certainly great marks, arguably his most impressive stat is his .317 ISO, which ranks second in the division.

Vientos started off his 2021 campaign in a deep slump, hitting just .188 with two homers over his first 17 games. He quickly began turning things around, as he slugged his way to a .321/.398/.769 slash line with 10 homers over his next 20 games.

Two of the biggest factors in his resurgence at the plate are likely the fact that Vientos became a more disciplined hitter which helped him cut down on the strikeouts.

Over his first 17 games, Vientos was striking out at an alarming rate of 36.6% and was walking just 9.1% of the time. Since then, he has struck out 22 times and drawn eight walks in 88 plate appearances. There’s still work to be done in this department, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

The recent power surge comes at an opportune time for both Vientos and the Mets, as 2021 was likely a prove-it year for the 21-year old infielder.

The Mets selected Vientos in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of American Heritage High School in Plantation Florida. Heading into the draft, he ranked as the 67th best prospect, and was viewed by many as one of the more intriguing high school bats in the country.

Vientos impressed over his first two seasons in the organization while playing in Rookie Ball. However, his 2019 season with the Fireflies was slightly disappointing, as he posted just a .711 OPS and struck out 110 times over 111 games.

Vientos is a little over three years younger than the average player in Double-A, making his recent success that much more impressive. A move to Triple-A Syracuse could be on the near horizon for the youngster, especially if he can continue this extended run of success.

Vientos will most certainly see himself shoot up prospect rankings when mid-season updates are released, and he may even see himself crack some Top-100 lists.