How the Mets addressed Mark Vientos' lack of hustle Tuesday
New York Mets' Mark Vientos. Credit: AP/David J. Phillip
MIAMI — Before Mark Vientos even had stepped on first base, he knew he messed up.
He bounced a ground ball to Marlins third baseman Graham Pauley in the fourth inning Tuesday night. Pauley dropped it, and because Vientos wasn’t running all out down the line, Pauley had time to recover, throw and beat him.
In a narrow 4-2 loss that at the time was tied, the moment mattered. So the Mets had a two-pronged approach to make sure it doesn’t happen again, the message emphasized by his peers and his bosses.
“The good thing is that I have a lot of veteran players that it was addressed right away,” manager Carlos Mendoza told Newsday. “He knew he made a mistake. It didn’t look good.”
Vientos said Francisco Lindor and baserunning/first-base coach Antoan Richardson addressed it quickly afterward. By the time Mendoza approached him early Wednesday to reiterate the sentiment, he had gotten it from multiple sources. Message received.
“I didn’t hustle it out,” Vientos said. “It’s unacceptable. I won’t let that happen again for sure.”
Mendoza said: “It can’t happen. He knows it.”
In Vientos’ eyes, the problem was that he came out of the batter’s box slowly on what looked like a routine grounder that he had no chance to beat out. But he also seemed to slow up in his final steps before first base. Had he continued to run hard, he may well have been safe.
“I hit it to third base and I started jogging out of the box. Coasted,” Vientos said. “Then I heard the crowd kind of give a reaction like he dropped it. At that point, it was too late. I should’ve been sprinting from the get-go, right when I hit it.”
Vientos was back in the lineup for the series finale Wednesday, albeit batting sixth instead of fifth. He went 0-for-5 and is batting .083, going 2-for-24 (.105) in six games. Since effort is typically not a problem for Vientos, Mendoza did not deem the brief lapse worthy of actual punishment.
“It’s not a regular issue,” Mendoza said. “That’s why it’s important to bring it to his attention. ‘That’s not who you are.’ He knows.”
Separately, Vientos was visibly frustrated after flying out in the ninth inning, with the potential tying run on first base, angrily taking off his batting helmet.
“Just wanted to come through in that situation,” Vientos said. “I probably never should’ve done that too, but that’s just the player I am. I’m competing out there. I’m super focused. I want to win. So obviously I gotta tame it down a little bit, but that’s how I compete.”
Extra bases
The Mets announced that they signed first baseman Jon Singleton and infielder Niko Goodrum to minor-league deals. Both are 33 years old, have significant major-league experience and will join Triple-A Syracuse . . . Frankie Montas (strained right lat) has started a throwing program, Mendoza said. He has played catch from 60 feet.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
