The newest adornment inside Mark Vientos’ locker is Mark Vientos — in bobblehead form.
And it actually looks like him: cheesing smile, goatee, black Mets uniform and right hand making a peace sign, his go-to pose when he sees a camera.
For the first 15,000 fans who show up at the ballpark on May 25, a marquee Sunday night game against the Dodgers on Memorial Day weekend, it’ll be the giveaway at the gate.
For Vientos, who proudly displayed the sample received from a Mets staffer Tuesday afternoon, before the team’s 5-1 win over the Phillies, it was yet another sign that he has arrived.
“It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it,” Vientos said. “I’m playing major-league baseball and I feel like I’m getting recognition of my work with this bobblehead, so it’s awesome.”
The figurine’s existence registered as an accomplishment. In his burgeoning career, it is somewhere on the list alongside his status as the Mets’ no-doubt third baseman and a middle-of-the-order bat — all indications of a level of prominence that comes with a positive pressure, a need to continually earn and re-earn what he has.
Across the first month of the season, Vientos has followed his breakout 2024 with, well, not much. But there are hints that that is changing. He reached base twice in the Mets’ sixth consecutive win — second over Philadelphia — by contributing a two-out, run-scoring double in the first inning and a walk during a three-run bottom of the seventh that all but put the game away.
In his past seven appearances — a small sample size that included a two-game absence because of a groin issue — Vientos is 7-for-25 (.280) with five extra-base hits.
He had just two extra-base hits over the previous 14 games.
“What’s crazy is it doesn’t feel different at all,” Vientos said. “I feel like I’ve been doing the same thing. I’m just finding holes now. I think that’s the hardest part of this game — not getting away from yourself no matter if you have results or not. The results are coming little by little.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza said, similarly: “Same guy that I saw at the beginning of the year when he wasn’t getting results … He’s controlling the strike zone and hitting pitches with authority. That’s who he is. I feel like he’s been doing that the whole year.”
Vientos’ latest hit came off Phillies lefthander Cristopher Sanchez, who is known for his changeup. In a full count, Vientos fouled off consecutive sinkers before getting another changeup, the eighth pitch of the at-bat, a tad below the strike zone. He hooked it down the leftfield line.
“It’s how he battled, fouled off some tough ones there and finally got a pitch and put it in play,” Mendoza said. “He laid off some tough ones [from] a pretty tough arm in Sanchez. Not easy to do and he did it today.”
The Mets did a lot of that against Sanchez, who exited because of left forearm soreness after two innings (58 pitches) and two runs. Francisco Lindor added an RBI single in the second.
That was enough support for righthander Griffin Canning (five innings, one run) and the Mets’ bullpen, but the lineup tacked on three more in the seventh to make the end easier. Luis Torrens had the big blow, a two-out, two-run single after the Phillies intentionally walked Jesse Winker to load the bases.
“That’s what I’m liking the most out of the lineup: One through nine, we’re not giving away ABs,” Vientos said. “Every guy that’s going up to bat is a tough AB. If we keep that up, it’s going to be a scary, scary team to play against.”
It’ll be even scarier if Vientos, the man in the middle, the mostly missing link, fully comes around. He is batting .173 with a .591 OPS.
“I have high expectations for myself. I just have big dreams and big visions,” Vientos said. “No outside pressure is going to get to me compared to what I put on myself.”
Vientos knows more is coming. The Mets expect the same — and he has the bobblehead to prove it.
Vientos could admire his miniature self for only so long late Tuesday before he changed his mind. It didn’t belong in his locker. He needed to bring it home.
“I gotta put it right on my nightstand,” he said. “I gotta look at it every morning when I wake up to remind myself.”
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.
