BOSTON — Contact hasn’t been Mark Vientos’ problem lately as much as driving the ball.
The Mets third baseman/DH began Monday a respectable 16-for-54 (.296) in May, but with only two extra-base hits for the month.
Vientos homered against the Cubs on May 11 and followed with a double the next night against the Pirates.
“This is just part of the season where I am not driving the ball as much,” Vientos said before going 0-for-4 as DH in a 3-1 loss to the Red Sox on Monday. “There’s probably going to be a part of the season where I am dropping the barrel every single time I hit.”
Vientos last season blasted 27 homers in 414 at-bats. He entered Monday with five in 158 at-bats.
“I don’t want him going out there trying to chase homers,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I want him to continue to give a good approach and control the strike zone, get pitches to hit and put good swings on it and then they will come. But, yeah, it’s been a little on and off here.”
Mendoza downplayed this stretch of games against three of MLB’s best offensive teams in the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers. The Mets lost two of three games to the Yankees over the weekend.
“I feel like nowadays there’s no soft spot anymore,” Mendoza said. “It seems like every team you play is a good team, especially in the National League. It’s a pretty competitive league.”
The Mets will play next week against the White Sox and Rockies, who began the day a combined 49 games below .500.
Nick Morabito and Jonah Tong were named Eastern League Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Double-A Binghamton.
Morabito, a 22-year-old outfielder, was 12-for-26 (.462) with a 1.248 OPS for the week.
Tong, who earned the award for the second straight week, threw six scoreless innings against Hartford in which he struck out eight and walked two with two hits allowed.
The Mets have not lost three straight games this season.
The 48-game stretch without losing three straight is the team’s longest since 2007, when the Mets went 56 games into the season without such a losing streak.
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