Mark Vientos batted second in the order on Thursday for the first time since high school and said he asked his coach to let him bat second.
In fact, he did get two hits there last season, but was just one for nine with five strikeouts.
But the third baseman was promoted in part because of the absence of Brandon Nimmo, who missed Thursday’s 7-6 loss to Oakland because of gastroenteritis.
For Vientos, it was the second two-home run of the season and the third of his career, and this time it was a better one.
He called hitting second base “great,” adding that he likes batting higher in the batting order because it gives him more chances to get to bat.
Asked about the move before the game, manager Carlos Mendoza said he’d been impressed with Vientos’ recent at-bats.
“His ability to make adjustments and go the other way,” Mendoza said of Vientos’s standout traits. “He can do damage.”
That’s exactly what Vientos did, first with a two-run homer to right-center field in the third inning and then one down the other line an inning later.
Mendoza didn’t rule out moving Vientos back to the No. 2 position in the future: “It depends on who’s available. [and] “That’s the guy we’re playing against. He looked calm.”
Vientos has been good wherever he batted for most of this season, having replaced Brett Batey at fifth, sixth and seventh in mid-May.
Since becoming a full-time third baseman, Vientos has posted the fourth-highest OPS (.858) at the position, behind Boston’s Rafael Devers, Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez and the Giants’ Matt Chapman.
J.D. Martinez called Vientos “hungry.”
“I respect that,” Martinez said, “and he thrives when we have weaker pitchers on the mound.”
The other game in which Vientos hit two home runs this year, Martinez noted, was the Subway Series against Gerrit Cole.
Prior to Thursday’s loss, he had just six hits in 33 at-bats in August, but as Mendoza pointed out, Vientos’ power in all directions makes him a threat at any time.
