With Pete Alonso Out, Mark Vientos Should Play Everyday

On June 7, Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch in the first inning and had to come out of the game. It was seemingly an obvious opportunity to get Mark Vientos, who had started just 9-of-18 possible games after being called up, some playing time. Instead the Mets opted to move Mark Canha to first and put Tommy Pham in the outfield.

For some reason, it feels like the Mets are jumping through hoops to not give Vientos consistent playing time. With Alonso out for the next month, the team needs to give Vientos an opportunity to play every day. If not every single game, he needs to be in the lineup for at least four out of five.

With the first base position open, Vientos and Daniel Vogelbach can coexist in a lineup if Buck Showalter still wants to go that route. Against a right-handed pitcher, Vientos can play first with Vogelbach as the designated hitter. Meanwhile, against a left-handed pitcher, Vientos moves to designated hitter, Canha to first base, and Pham to left field. 

Pham is hot, and the Mets cannot afford to not play the hot hand right now, so he can take designated hitter at-bats from Vogelbach who is ice cold. However, he doesn’t have to take at-bats from Vientos.

Is Vientos a slam dunk prospect? Absolutely not.  Over his first 43 plate appearances, he’s slashing a meager .175/.209/.250. But that’s just it — only 43 plate appearances. That’s nothing.

He hasn’t started more than three games in a row, and that only happened once. Even after Alonso got hurt, he only got two starts before being relegated back to the bench. It’s unfair to expect any player to be a legitimate contributor with seriously inconsistent playing time, much less a 23-year-old rookie.

Losing Alonso is just about the worst injury that could happen to the Mets, but it has given them an opportunity they didn’t have before. This next month, start Vientos every day. Give him consistent at-bats. Let him get into a groove. Don’t make him wonder if he’s going to be in the lineup every day. 

Find out what you have in him. He hasn’t had success at the major-league level yet, but tore up the minors in such a way where he deserves more of an opportunity than he has been given.

Vogelbach isn’t the future, Pham isn’t the future. But Vientos might be.