Mets' Mark Vientos a candidate for Dominican WBC team after breakout season
New York Mets' Mark Vientos celebrates in the dugout after scoring in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen) Credit: AP/Jason Allen
MILWAUKEE — Amid Mark Vientos’ ascension from tough-luck minor-leaguer to Mets lineup cornerstone, he received a particular and perhaps unexpected form of validation this week: consideration from longtime major-leaguer Nelson Cruz, who serves as the general manager of the Dominican Republic’s WBC team, for a spot on the country’s 2026 roster.
Vientos recently expressed a desire to play in the next iteration of the international tournament. On Wednesday afternoon, immediately after Vientos finished batting practice, a mutual acquaintance put the third baseman and Cruz on the phone together. After they spoke for a couple of minutes, Vientos came away all smiles and just a little in awe.
“[Cruz] was just asking me if I’m interested,” said Vientos, 24. “I said yeah, of course, it’s a dream of mine. He said, let’s see what we can do to make it possible.”
No promises were made. The World Baseball Classic isn’t for another year and a half, in March 2026. Plenty can change before then; Vientos may well have to repeat his 2024 (and then some) to win a spot for real.
The Dominican, a baseball powerhouse, has a loaded pool at third base, beginning with Jose Ramirez, Manny Machado and Rafael Devers.
Vientos was born in Connecticut and grew up in South Florida. But his father, Charles, was born in the Dominican, so his son is eligible.
That it is a conversation — that it is feasible — speaks to the season Vientos has had.
“It’s super-cool,” he said.
His year at a glance: Upon getting squeezed off the Opening Day roster in the final days of spring training — bumped from his likely DH spot by the signing of J.D. Martinez — a dejected Vientos opened the year with Triple-A Syracuse, mashed and made it back to the majors briefly in late April and for good by mid-May.
The Mets didn’t necessarily expect that to be permanent, but he won the third-base job from Brett Baty by hitting well (as Baty wasn’t). Vientos finished the regular season with a .266 average, an .837 OPS, 27 home runs and 71 RBIs in 111 games. He had a better offensive year than Pete Alonso, for example, and significantly better than Martinez. His on-pace-for numbers in a full season, had he not started in the minors, would’ve been 36 homers and 95 RBIs.
“I think I had a great season,” Vientos said. “There’s still room for improvement. Obviously, I want to get the job finished with this season and win it all. But I’m excited for the offseason to work on what I think I can get better on.
“I’m a person that’s never satisfied with what I did. I’m like, yeah, I had a good season, but I could’ve done better here, I could’ve done better here.”
Naturally, there were hiccups along the way, and Carlos Mendoza cited a dip in energy during a West Coast swing in early August. Vientos was beat. That’s not unexpected.
“I think he just recognized ‘I’m tired.’ What are you gonna do about it?” Mendoza said. “That type of deal. You gotta find a way. And I think he did that. So credit to him, adjusting his routines and what it takes to prepare at the big-league level, at the highest level.”
Vientos said: “The only way you can do it is just coming to the field and pushing through it. It’s not like I got less tired. I’m still tired. But just pushing through it, because this is what I want. This is what I want to do.”
And here he was, hitting in the top four in the Mets’ lineup throughout the NL Wild Card Series against the Brewers.
“It says a lot about this kid,” Mendoza said. “He should be proud of himself.”
Extra bases
The Mets twice recently, including Wednesday, would have turned to backup catcher Luis Torrens to play second base had they extended the game in the last inning. Torrens laughed at that but said he could do it; he made two appearances at second with Seattle in 2022. He sometimes takes ground balls there . . . Starling Marte started a fourth consecutive game for the first time in a month. “This is probably the best version of Marte that we’ve seen since he got hurt [in June],” Mendoza said . . . Mendoza on Jesse Winker getting booed by fan bases he used to play for, including in Milwaukee: “He’s been booed I think everywhere we’ve been. That’s our handshake: I boo him. After that series in Seattle, I started booing him. Every time I see him, I boo him.”
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.
