So far in 2026, the New York Mets offense has been up and down. The Mets in their first game knocked Paul Skenes out of his first start in the 1st inning, and New York would go on to score 11 to win their first game. However, over the course of the next six games, the Mets would go 2-4, scoring a total 14 runs, including a series of embarrassment against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the last two games, the Mets have scored a total of 19 runs behind the bats of a lot of players, including a potential re-emerging superstar, Mark Vientos.
*stats as of April 5th
Could Mark Vientos Re-Emerge as Mets Superstar?
In 2024, Mark Vientos Was the One of Best Offensive Player’s For New York
In 2024, Vientos was the best power bat New York had in its lineup. Pete Alonso in 2024 had 34 homers with 88 RBIs, which of course was pretty good but a little bit underwhelming for what he usually did in Flushing. Francisco Lindor was unbelievable, hitting 33 shots with 98 RBIs and a 30/30 season. He would finish second in MVP voting. Vientos was a fascinating story in 2024, as in just 111 games, he mashed 27 homers with a good .266 average. Vientos wouldn’t stop in the regular season either, as in the postseason, he still had five home runs with 14 RBIs and a .327 average in just 15 games.
In the postseason and in the second half, Vientos has the Mets best hitter in 2024. He hit multiple walk-off home runs in 2024, and also hit several clutch shots in the postseason to help New York against the Philadelphia Phillies and even the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and NLCS. Overall, the value of Vientos went through the roof.
An Inconsistent 2025 and Ugly Spring Training Significant Lowered Expectations On Vientos
In 2025, Vientos struggled to stay healthy and consistent. At one point of the season, he looked pretty good, but other than that, not much showed that Vientos was that star New York needed. He hit 17 homers in 117 games with an ugly .233 average. He also managed to strike out 115 times to just 30 walks, and overall Vientos had a negative WAR of -0.2. In other words, Vientos had a pretty mediocre and awful 2025 compared to what he did in 2024.
In spring training, things got worse for Vientos. He went 2-34 with seven K’s and just one walk which made things look horrifying for the potential star. The made a lot of Mets fans think that Vientos was likely going to be on the bench, especially with players like Bret Baty and Bo Bichette who can play the infield and hit against right-handed pitching, which Vientos just couldn’t do in the spring or in 2025.
With An Amazing Series, The Potential Superstar May Have Earned Himself a Starting Role
Vientos had just a few plate appearances before the series against the San Francisco Giants. In which he hit a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates that propelled them to tie the game and eventually win it. Against the Cards, Vientos went 1-4 but still looked pretty good. Thanks to the fact that Jorge Polanco was injured and the Mets were struggling to score any runs, finally, New York started Vientos.
In the first game of the series against the Giants, Vientos went 1-4 with a moonshot homer in a 7-2 loss. He started again, where he went an impressive 2-3 with two walks and an RBI single that finally made New York start him again. Finally, Vientos again went 3-5 with another RBI single. So far, he has gone 8-17 with two walks in 2025 and a homer. It is a small sample size, but nonetheless a very impressive one. Now, Vientos has clearly earned himself a starting role unless his offense dips massively.
Again, going 8-17 to start a season isn’t like batting .300 in 40 games. However, Vientos first sample of this season proves he can be the dominant version of himself like he was in 2024. Such a good player could change the dynamic of the Mets, who already have a bunch of talent up and down the lineup. A lot of players for New York have been called potential X-factors, and well, Vientos is among those potential X-factors. There is no telling what a good Vientos can do in 2026.
Main Image: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
