NEW YORK -- When Mets third baseman Mark Vientos strained his right hamstring June 2 in Los Angeles, he feared an extended absence.
Those concerns quickly proved unwarranted. Vientos is set to begin a Minor League rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Syracuse, a little more than two weeks after suffering the injury.
Although manager Carlos Mendoza declined to predict how long of an assignment Vientos will need, the fact that he missed so little time suggests this probably won’t be a lengthy stay in the Minors.
“I’m so thankful,” Vientos said last week. “I thought it was a lot worse from when it happened.”
Vientos, 25, injured his hamstring when he tripped heading to first base in a game against the Dodgers. He subsequently underwent two MRIs, which revealed only a Grade 1 strain -- the least severe variety. Less than a week after the incident, Vientos was already jogging and hitting in a cage. He has since gone through multiple rounds of batting practice.
The only questions are where and how often Vientos will play once he returns. His injury prompted the Mets to call up Ronny Mauricio, who has been manning third base and DH’ing on a regular basis. Brett Baty has also received regular reps at third.
Once Vientos is ready, the Mets could option one of Mauricio, Baty or Luisangel Acuña back to Syracuse, where they can receive more consistent playing time. But the obvious solution might be keeping all four young players and optioning Jared Young, a left-handed utility man who has appeared only sparingly off the bench as the DH.
Coming off a breakout 2024 season, Vientos was batting .230/.298/.380 in 53 games prior to his injury.
Manaea struggles in third rehab start
Elsewhere on the farm, left-hander Sean Manaea allowed four runs over 2 1/3 innings in his third rehab start for High-A Brooklyn. He walked two batters and allowed five hits.
Manaea, who is working his way back from a strained right oblique muscle, is about two weeks behind Frankie Montas (strained right lat) in his rehab. As such, Mets officials are not as concerned with his results as they are with those of Montas, who allowed eight runs last time out for Triple-A Syracuse.
Manaea stretched out to 56 pitches in the start for Brooklyn and should appear in at least two more Minor League games before the Mets will consider activating him. He’s due to return in early July.