Mark Vientos, a top prospect with big expectations on his shoulders, has struggled to start the 2022 season. Entering Sunday’s game, he had a .167/.282/.303 slash line and had hit just one home run through 21 games. On Sunday, however, Vientos’ bat came alive in a big way as he reached base four times and blasted his second home run of the season.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (10-19) 11, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (17-13) 4  Box Score

• Mark Vientos 3B: 2-for-3, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, .188/.313/.362
• Nick Dini C: 3-for-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB, .241/.405/.483
• Wyatt Young SS: 2-for-4, R, BB, K, .352/.446/.437

Syracuse’s offense had an explosive game on Sunday afternoon, scoring 11 runs on 15 hits. Vientos has struggled mightily early this season, but he had a huge game as he reached base four times and hit just his second home run of the season. This early in the season, a day like this can be a big boost to one’s stat line, and, indeed, Vientos boosted his OPS from an atrocious .585 to a respectable .675 in just this one game.

Young continues to excel at the highest level of the minor leagues less than a year after he was drafted. With a .421 BABIP and minimal power, some of his performance is surely just good batted-ball luck, but, at 84 plate appearances, the sample is getting to the point of significance. At the least, an 11:13 BB:K ratio shows that he has the skills at least to hold his own in Triple-A, even if the stellar batting average comes down a bit.

https://twitter.com/SyracuseMets/status/1523374781382504449

• LHP David Peterson (W, 1-1, 6.52 ERA) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K
• LHP Alex Claudio (1-0, 2.25 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, ER, K
• RHP Colin Holderman (1-0, 2.61 ERA) 2.0 IP, 4 H, ER, 4 K

When he was sent down a couple of weeks ago to make his first-ever Triple-A start, Peterson was noticeably off and ended up allowing nine runs. There was no such letdown on Sunday, and Peterson tossed five shutout innings in a dominant outing. Despite allowing a seventh-inning home run, Claudio’s ERA remains sparkling, and there is still a decent chance that he would be the first man up should the Mets need another lefty reliever this season. Holderman had a season-high four strikeouts in his outing but also allowed a season-high four hits.

AA: Hartford Yard Goats (15-12) 7, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (8-18) 2  Box Score

• Francisco Álvarez DH: 0-for-4, K, .215/.315/.443
• Brett Baty LF: 1-for-4, 2 K, .264/.350/.385
• Ronny Mauricio SS: 0-for-4, K, E, .255/.293/.447

For such a star-studded lineup, the Rumble Ponies have had an incredibly tough time scoring runs this season: they are second-to-last in the Eastern League in runs scored and had just five hits on Sunday. The main reason for these struggles is that the trio of top prospects has simply stopped hitting over the last several weeks. Since the start of May, Álvarez (.375) and Baty (.475) both have an OPS under .500. Mauricio has been only marginally better with a .207/.233/.379 during the first week of the month.

Most likely, the league has adjusted to these young prospects after they each got off to blazing-hot starts, and they will adjust back in due time. Still, it is worth watching how long this adjustment takes.

• RHP Jose Butto (L, 1-3, 3.47 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, 2 ER, BB, K
• LHP Nate Fisher (0-1, 4.74 ERA) 3.0 IP, H, BB, 4 K
• RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (0-1, 0.93 ERA) 1.0 IP, K

Butto was removed from Sunday’s game after just one inning pitched. While it was a tough inning that featured a two-run home run and 23 pitches, it doesn’t appear that it was laborious enough to necessitate his removal so quickly. There was no announcement of an injury following the game, but it will be interesting to see if he makes his next start as scheduled. Fisher has started May by allowing just one hit over seven shutout innings across three games. Montes de Oca brought his ERA back below 1.00 with a scoreless inning; he also continues to show improved control this season. He also hit 102 mph in this outing.

Submariner Josh Hejka also tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, he hasn’t allowed a run in 10 2/3 innings this season.

A+ (Game 1): Aberdeen IronBirds (18-6) 4, Brooklyn Cyclones (12-13) 3  Box Score

• Brandon McIlwain RF: 1-for-3, R, 3B, K, .230/.277/.377
• Warren Saunders 2B: 1-for-2, 2B, BB, .222/.300/.311
• Wilmer Reyes SS: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, .244/.292/.311

The Cyclones pushed across three runs on six hits as they lost the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. They were held without a run for the first four innings of the game, but Reyes was able to plate one run in each of the fifth and sixth innings on a groundout and single, respectively. Down two in the seventh, the first two batters reached base, and JT Schwartz put the tying run in scoring position, but the late-game rally ended up falling short.

• RHP Junior Santos (L, 0-4, 6.27 ERA) 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 2 K
• RHP Justin Courtney (2-0, 2.61 ERA) 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB
• RHP Garrison Bryant (1-0, 2.55 ERA) 3.0 IP, H, 3 BB, 4 K

Santos’ rough start to the 2022 season continued on Sunday as he was knocked out of the game in the second inning. His 7.2 K/9 is right around his career average, but his 6.3 BB/9 is easily a career high. With a .400 BABIP against, perhaps some more balls will start finding gloves, but he really needs to get his control in check if he is going to have success at this level. Bryant has been very solid in long relief, and continued that success with three scoreless innings in this game.

A+ (Game 2): Aberdeen IronBirds (19-6) 5, Brooklyn Cyclones (12-14) 1  Box Score

• Jose Mena C: 2-for-2, R, HR, RBI, BB, .326/.367/.413
• Jose Peroza 3B: 2-for-3, K, .187/.235/.213
• Matt O’Neill DH: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 K, .206/.413/.353

Mena provided the entirety of the Cyclones’ offense in game two of their doubleheader. His fourth-inning home run, the first of the season for him, was the only run the team would score during the game. He would also reach base in his other two plate appearances.

• RHP Daison Acosta (L, 0-4, 11.45 ERA) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
• RHP Sammy Tavarez (0-0, 1.42 ERA) 1.1 IP, BB, K
• RHP Hunter Parsons (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 1.0 IP, 2 H

Acosta struggled yet again in his fifth start back from Tommy John surgery. After impressing to the point where he began to appear on organizational top prospect lists in 2019, Acosta’s return from injury has not been smooth sailing. With the exception of his one-inning start a couple of weeks ago, he has allowed three or more runs in each of his starts. Tavarez continues to be a pitcher of many extremes: for the season, he has a 15.63 K/9, 9.95 BB/9, and has held hitters to a .050/.345/.050 slash line.

A: Palm Beach Cardinals (11-16) 5, St. Lucie (18-9) 2  Box Score

• Alex Ramirez CF: 2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, .385/.423/.606
• William Lugo 3B: 2-for-3, R, BB, .250/.315/.417
• Raul Beracierta 1B: 2-for-4, K, .309/.338/.338

Ramirez impressed yet again on Sunday, as he drove in both of St. Lucie’s runs. The first run came in on a two-out triple in the third, while he brought home the second run on a single with two outs in the fifth. No matter what metric you want to look at, Ramirez’s season has been incredibly impressive so far: he has recorded a hit in all but three of the 24 games he has played; his four triples lead the league; and his 1.029 OPS is second in the league. Lugo got off to a slow start to the season, but is hitting .333/.407/.500 in May.

• RHP Robert Colina (0-0, 1.35 ERA) 4.0 IP, 4 H, 5 K
• RHP Raimon Gomez (L, 0-1, 11.25 ERA) 2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, K
• LHP Daniel Juarez (1-0, 0.68 ERA) 2.0 IP, 2 H, 4 K

Colina was good in his first start of the season, but he was even better in his second one, shutting out the Cardinals through the first four innings of the game. Juarez has really impressed so far this season: he has allowed just one run over 13 1/3 innings pitched and has a 14.85 K/9.