He’s a virtual hitting machine. The combination of the ability to stay back on a pitch, quick, explosive wrists and a short compact swing has translated to success at the plate at every level of the New York Mets farm system thus far.. And, he’s determined to show he has little left to prove, at least as a hitter, playing Double-A baseball. T.J. Rivera is on fire in Binghamton.

Rivera treated a home Opening Day Binghamton crowd to his full batting arsenal going 4-for-4 with a walk, a double, scoring three runs and knocking home three more as the B-Mets downed Harrisburg, 9-3, at NYSEG Stadium.

After the Mets opted mot to promote him to Triple-A Las Vegas to begin the season, Rivera has started his second stint in Binghamton like he finished his first go around last fall going 14-for-28 in the batter’s box. That means the B-Met second baseman is hitting at a .500 clip in the new season. With his fast start, Rivera’s combined Binghamton Eastern League batting average over parts of two seasons has now climbed to .376.

Thursday night in the home opener, Rivera ripped a single to right centerfield scoring Brandon Nimmo from second base during the first inning. Nimmo had doubled in the previous B-Met at bat. Rivera would later score when Dustin Lawley doubled.

A hard ground single through the middle off Rivera’s bat drove in Jared King in the second. Rivera worked a 7-pitch walk in the fifth inning then smoked a one out double over the third base bag and into the left field corner in the B-Met seventh. A Lawley single would drive the feisty second baseman home later in the inning.

Then Rivera wrapped up his productive night at the plate ripping a hard linedrive single over the second baseman’s head scoring King in Binghamton’s final at bat. That is, unless you include Rivera’s heads-up scoring when Senator shortstop Adrian Sanchez overthrew Lawleys infield ground ball or Rivera’s turn of a game ending 6-4-3 double play in the Senators ninth.

Not sure what else this young man has to do before he gets the call to Las Vegas, but as long as he remains in Binghamton, his fan club keeps growing and the B-Mets keep winning. He’s as fun to watch as he is exciting.