New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos emerged as a breakout star for the club during its postseason run that included a trip to the 2024 National League Championship Series, but thus far has routinely failed to offer the lineup that same kind of pop throughout the ongoing campaign. 

During a recent chat with Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News, Mets hitting coach Jeremy Barnes explained why he and others within the Mets are confident Vientos will find his slugging form sooner rather than later. 

"He’s in some different positions setting up. He’s trying to find what we call his trigger, and he just hasn’t been able to find it as well," Barnes said about Vientos. "The biggest thing is he’s kind of getting along on the back side, so we’re just trying to tighten things up and get him basically on a trigger ready to go, without having to unwind and get too long."

As noted by Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated, Vientos set a new Mets postseason record with 14 RBI during the playoffs this past fall. In total, the 25-year-old slashed .327/.362/.636 with a .998 OPS and five home runs over 13 postseason games. 

To compare, Vientos slashed .212/.275/.344 with a .619 OPS, six homers and 21 RBI over his first 60 contests of this season. While he was working to recover from a hamstring injury that he suffered in early June, the Mets fell from 45-24 to 48-38. The Amazins then won four of five games heading into Tuesday's series opener at the Baltimore Orioles (40-49). 

Newsday's David Lennon mentioned how Mets manager Carlos Mendoza moving star shortstop Francisco Lindor down to the No. 2 spot in the lineup last week helped the club snap a run of 14 defeats in 17 outings. According to Mastracco, Mendoza thinks Vientos will get "his timing right" in the batter's box at some point this summer. 

"Obviously I get frustrated, but I don’t think there’s a feeling of like, 'Oh man, I started feeling sorry for myself,'" Vientos recently remarked about his at-the-plate struggles. "I think it’s just like, I keep working, just keep going, and eventually I’ll figure it out. I kind of give myself no choice but to figure it out…It’s either I don’t figure it out and I go work at a regular job, or I figure it out and I play baseball. So it’s either one or the other, but I know it’s harder to work a regular job, so that’s the way I think about it."

The good news for the 2025 Mets is that they are set to receive some help in the form of players returning from injuries. Per John Flanigan of SNY, outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker hasn't played in an MLB game since May 4 because of an oblique injury but could see some action against Baltimore. Ace Kodai Senga hasn't pitched since he suffered a hamstring strain on June 12, and lefty Sean Manaea (oblique, bone chip in elbow) has yet to make his big league season debut. Both men could make starts before the Mets' All-Star break begins on Sunday evening.