Mark Vientos was drafted in 2017, and he’s now on his seventh general manager. Maybe that’s part of the reason the Mets keep pushing him aside for other less producing players.

When Vientos was drafted as a shortstop, he was almost immediately moved to third base. He hasn’t been great there defensively, which is a large part of his problem.

The biggest issue for Vientos was Brett Baty being drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft. It was a new regime, and they identified their third baseman of the future.

The other issue has been Ronny Mauricio. In 2017, he was given a then Mets record signing bonus. Mauricio is blocked at his natural shortstop, and the question has been where does he eventually land.

Of these three players, Vientos is the only one with any success at the Major League level. Last season, he was a monster with 27 homers and a 133 wRC+.

Vientos was arguably the Mets best hitter in the postseason. Over the Mets 13 games, Vientos hit .327/.362/.636 with five homers. That included three homers in the NLCS.

We hoped Vientos would springboard from that. Unfortunately, he’s having a lost season.

Typically a slow starter, Vientos had a bad start to the season. Then, he was injured. Somehow he got Wally Pipped by Baty and Mauricio.

Baty has a 92 wRC+. Since June 1, he’s hitting .198/.257/.330. The Mets are pushing him over Vientos for this complete lack of production.

Mauricio has been better with a 107 wRC+. Like Baty, he can’t hit left-handed pitching with a .118/.167/.118 batting line. That is despite the fact Mauricio is a switch hitter.

Since Vientos returned from the IL, he’s started just five games over an eight game stretch. He’s become a short-side platoon option.

Last season, Vientos had a 127 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. That’s far better than the numbers Baty and Mauricio are producing. More than that, it’s just solid proof and evidence Vientos can hit right-handed pitching.

It’s gotten real bizarre. In the series finale against the New York Yankees, Carlos Mendoza lifted Vientos for Mauricio. It did work in the short term as Mauricio and Baty would get back-to-back pinch hits.

Now, it needs to be noted it worked in a vacuum. Those consecutive pinch hit singles were part of two run inning which saw the Mets pull within 5-4.

Yankees left-handed reliever Tim Hill allowed a single to Mauricio. That was just his second hit in 18 at-bats against left-handed pitch. Baty, and his 39 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, followed. He hit into a double play ending the Mets last real chance of the day.

The Mets would lose 6-4. It’s just one loss for a team that is having an otherwise very good year. That said, this loss highlighted the Mets biggest problem.

They gave up on Vientos.

Vientos has struggled, and he’s not forcing the Mets to play him. He’s being treated as a short side platoon option, and it’s hurting the team.

Make no mistake, Baty has not been good this year. Mauricio has shown flashes, but he’s still limited. Unlike Vientos, both players are just platoon options.

The Mets have a massive hole at third base. Their lineup is shallow. Both of these issues are directly related to Vientos.

Vientos started the issue by struggling and getting hurt. The Mets made it worse by giving up on him for a player in Baty who continues to show he’s not a starter at the Major League level.

It’s time to give Vientos some run. Let him get back to last year’s form (the same player he was in the minors). If they invest in him, the Mets lineup will be complete, and they will have their best postseason hitter from last year ready to help the team on another deep run.