Mark Vientos is the Mets’ main man right now
NY Post
PHILADELPHIA — Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso are the biggest names, and biggest stars, on the team from Queens. They are 1 and 1A on your list of orange-and-blue luminaries.
But the kid Mark Vientos is the main man now. Of that there is no denying, and no doubt.
The kid who always thought and said he could rake is doing it up big on the biggest stage. And if he had just a little more help, the Mets would be heading home in a commanding position instead of tied at one game apiece after Philly’s rousing 7-6 walk-off victory Sunday.
Vientos hit a pair of book-end two-run homers, including one to tie things in the ninth. He also doubled and walked in his five plate appearances that carried the potential to be labeled an all-time great Mets performance if only the Mets had hung on. Vientos provided the best of the Mets’ daily late-game heroics, but this time the Phillies beat the Mets at their own game, staging three late-game rallies to even the Division Series.
Vientos — the kid who was demoted to Syracuse not once but twice this year and never complained — feels unstoppable right now. He is the best thing the Mets have going for them now.
“I’m focused. I’m focused on getting the job done and doing whatever I can to help the team,” Vientos said.
I decided if I wrote about Rickey Henderson I would not use a statistic. We are assaulted with stats and metrics now, and while baseball is our most numbers-oriented sport, I do sense the analytics revolution has chilled too many fans and reporters from just talking about how certain players made you feel while watching them.