The New York Mets have made a move on Mark Vientos, turning to the 26-year-old at first base with Jorge Polanco sidelined with an apparent Achilles injury.
Per Abby Mastracco of the New York Daily News, Polanco is out of Thursday’s lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks after his Achilles tendon did not respond well to playing on Wednesday. Manager Carlos Mendoza acknowledged the situation has become serious enough that an IL stint is on the table, though he described it as “fluid”.
The 32-year-old Polanco signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets this offseason after posting a .265 batting average with 26 home runs and 78 RBI in 138 games for the Seattle Mariners in 2025.
The Mets have shifted him from second base to first base in spring training. The transition has been further complicated by the Achilles issue, which first surfaced during the team’s opening series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has not played the position since that series on March 28 and is hitting .200 in the young season.
Vientos, however, has made the most of his expanded opportunity. The right-handed hitter is batting .471 through his first six games with a home run and two doubles for a 1.291 OPS. Since then, he has cooled off, with a .370 batting average on 10 hits for a .956 OPS. He has also handled first base without committing a single error in six starts at the position.
The early returns are a welcome development for a franchise that spent much of the offseason wondering which version of Vientos would show up in 2026. After a breakout 2024 campaign when he hit 27 home runs with an .837 OPS and set a Mets franchise record with 14 RBI in the postseason, Vientos regressed in 2025, hitting .233 with 17 home runs and a .702 OPS over 121 games.
He entered this season with no guarantee of regular playing time on a roster that added Polanco, Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien to an already crowded infield. Polanco’s injury has changed that entirely.
If an IL stint does come, Jared Young figures to see time at first base as well, but Viento’s hot start makes him the clear frontrunner for the bulk of the time at first. Giving the streaky hitter consistent at-bats has always been the key to unlocking his production, and right now, the lineup card is doing exactly that.
