Pete Alonso. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets announced Sunday morning that slugger Pete Alonso has been activated off the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, New York sent down prospect Mark Vientos.

Alonso was hit by a pitch against the Atlanta Braves on June 9. It was a Charlie Morton fastball that struck his wrist. Originally, it was reported he would miss 3-to-4 weeks. However, he is returning much earlier than expected.

Alonso did lose his home run lead to Shohei Ohtani while he was out. His 22 long balls now ranks second in Major League Baseball. Alonso owns a .231/.326/.546 slash line which is good for a .872 OPS. He has driven in 49 runs, which is still second-most in the National League.

Alonso will surely be a huge boost to a Mets’ team that desperately needs it. He will be batting in his cleanup spot this afternoon.

Mark Vientos. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

As for Vientos, the rookie was never given a sustained run of play from manager Buck Sholwater after being called up on May 17. Since that call up (32 days ago), Vientos has only seen 45 at-bats across 16 games. He slashed a meager .178/.225/.244 good for a subpar .469 OPS.

Despite the lackluster numbers, Vientos has obliterated the ball when he made contact. His hard-hit rate of 59.4 percent ranks second in the MLB, only behind Aaron Judge (minimum 25 BBE). His xBA of .275, being 0.097 points higher than his actual average, indicates Vientos was a victim of some tough luck and due to regress positively.

However, Vientos never got the chance to “correct” this bad luck. With more play time, that may have just happened, though not guaranteed. Instead, he is being sent back down to Triple-A where he raked prior to his call up. Vientos will bring 13 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a 1.104 OPS into his first at-bat back with Syracuse.

Showalter gave his thoughts on Vientos before the game Sunday, “At this time, Mark needs to get some at-bats down there.” He added, “He’s [Vientos] got a chance to be a good hitter and I think he’s starting to really make strides defensively.”