Ahead of the Mets’ game in San Diego against the Padres on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza hit on a number of topics…
The starter will make his next rehab start likely on Tuesday with Double-A Binghamton, Mendoza said.
This would be Senga's fourth minor league rehab outing since he began ramping up in the minors in late May. The outings haven't been going so well, in two starts with Triple-A Syracuse, the right-hander allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
The skipper classified the reports on Senga as being “on and off.”
“I watched the last couple of outings, some inconsistency with strike throwing,” Mendoza said. “Physically, he feels fine, which is good, but obviously, we need to see some results here now.”
Mendoza said the issue that has been keeping Senga from finding consistent good form has been throwing strikes.
“He’s gotta be able to compete in the strike zone,” he said. “I’ve been saying it with a lot of our guys. I think it’s just him attacking and dominating Triple-A lineups.”
Mendoza noted that Senga’s velocity was “a little down” In his last outing with Syracuse, but “for the most part, it has been mid-90s.”
“The first two outings of the year were pretty nasty," Mendoza said of Senga’s first starts with the Mets. "The velo was up, he was competing in the strike zone. But then he kinda got away from it. It is kinda what we’re looking at. Hopefully, we get that version back.”
In 2024, Vientos looked to have put it all together at the plate, smacking 27 home runs with 71 RBI in 111 games with a .837 OPS (134 OPS+). Over the 175 games since, Vientos has posted 24 home runs and 87 RBI with a .680 OPS (90 OPS+), which includes the first 54 games of this season that have seen him post a .218 average with a .630 OPS (77 OPS+).
"He's got to compete for at-bats,” Mendoza said when asked to assess Vientos’ role moving forward.
The 26-year-old has seen his playing time decrease recently, and he entered Saturday's game 6-for-42 (.143) in his last 13 games with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
“We've got a healthy competition here,” he said. “Jared Young is playing well, [MJ] Melendez, [too]. We're going to need him. Obviously, it's been hard for him the past few weeks, but this is a guy that can carry a team.
“We’re gonna need him, he’s got another opportunity [Saturday], and we’ll continue to assess day by day.”
Carson Benge's big-league personality
“Impressive,” Mendoza said of the rookie’s play over his first 60 games since his big league debut on Opening Day.
“The biggest thing for me,” the manager continued, “he’s not gonna show you emotions. This is a guy that is just new to the league and you can’t really tell if he’s 0-for-12 or if he’s seven for his last 10 at-bats.
“His ability to play defense, his ability to run the bases, continues to put together really good at-bats, left-on-left. He’s been impressive and it’s just good to see.”
One thing that has helped Benge is knowing he will be in the lineup each day which is something that can be a boost for players making the transition to the big league level, but it doesn’t come without costs, too.
“That always helps. Knowing that you’re gonna be in the lineup,” Mendoza said, adding that Benge has “a good group of veterans there that are continuing to help him get through some of the struggles at the beginning.”
“It’s a grind. It’s every day. In the minor leagues, you get that one day off every five, six days,” the manager continued. “That doesn’t happen here at this level. But he’s super consistent with his personality, with the way he goes about his business. It’s just good to see it.”
