Mark Vientos believes swing, Mets RISP struggles are headed in right direction

QUEENS, NY — Mark Vientos knows his swing is in a good place when he can do the sort of things seen on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.

The struggling slugger, who hit 27 home runs in his first full season in the big leagues last year, was able to catch up to Chicago White Sox starter Shane Smith’s high, 94-mph fastball, and muscle it 368 feet the other way over the right-field fence — just his sixth home run in 50 games.

“I think so,” Vientos said following the Mets’ 9-4 loss to Chicago when asked if his swing is close to where he wants it to be. “If I can get a high fastball like that the other way with authority, I’m in a good spot.”

It provides a light at the end of the tunnel for the 25-year-old, whose average (.266 to .235), OPS (.837 to .690), and barrel rate (14.1% to 7.4%) are significantly down.

“I don’t know, to be honest with you,” Vientos said while trying to assess his struggles this year. “I ask myself that, too. But I can’t really feel sorry for myself. I have to keep working and keep getting a hit here and there and contribute to my team as much as possible.”

Vientos’ home run also provided a boost in another starving category: runners in scoring position. He was batting just .130 with men in scoring position before his third-inning at-bat against Smith, which came with men on first and third and two outs.

Granted, he is just one piece of the sputtering offense that has failed to take advantage of its multitude of opportunities.

The Mets went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position during Wednesday’s loss, while leaving 11 men on base. As a team, they are batting a paltry .211 with a .675 OPS in 478 at-bats with runners in scoring position this season.

It is even worse in clutch situations, as New York is batting .203 with runners on second and third with two outs in an inning.

“We’ve got to get better with runners in scoring position,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We are all aware of it. Yes, the underlying numbers are there, but at the end of the day, we have to get the job done… We have a lot of good hitters there. I’m pretty confident that at the end of the year, the numbers are going to be where they need to be, especially with runners in scoring position. But right now, we got to continue to find a way. We got to find a way to get the job done, and we will.”

Still, the Mets are winning ballgames at a rate that has not been seen much during the franchise’s existence. Their 34 wins through the first 56 games this season rank sixth-most.

“The way I look at it is, if this is us struggling and we’re winning games, imagine when we’re not,” Vientos said. “I don’t think the whole season is going to be like this. I believe it’s not going to be like this. That’s baseball. You’re always waiting for that hot streak, and I know it’s coming for us. We’re struggling and we’re winning games.”