Another tough week came and went for the New York Mets, as the team went 3-3 between Sunday May 29th and Saturday June 4th. In that time, the Mets lost the weekend series to the Los Angeles Dodgers at home, and lost the series against the Chicago White Sox also at home. The Mets righted the ship in Miami, winning the first two games against the Marlins on Friday and Saturday.
The offense was struggling early in the week, as they only scored a total of eight runs combined in their rubber game against the Dodgers and their three game set against the White Sox. Since taking their talents to South Beach, the Mets have scored a combined 12 runs on Friday and Saturday, getting another brilliant performance from Noah Syndergaard, who improved to 6-2 on the year, with a 1.91 earned run average, and a 0.96 WHIP.
After recapping the games from last week, two players stood out prominently in their roles they played to help the Mets inch back closer to first place in the National League East.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
For the second straight week second baseman Neil Walker claims MMO’s Offensive Player of the Week. Walker put together some great at-bats, collecting a hit in every game and reaching base multiple times in four of the six games. Overall, Walker went 8-for-21 at the plate (.381) with two home runs, three runs batted in, four runs scored, and five walks. He only struck out three times during the six games played last week.
Walker has been such a steady, reliable presence for the Mets all season, being a consistent force for the Mets in the middle of their lineup. Walker had one of only four hits LHP Clayton Kershaw gave up in last Sunday’s game, working a full count before doubling to left field. He also was responsible for the lone run the Mets had in Monday’s Memorial Day game, crushing a 1-0 fastball off of LHP Jose Quintana to left-center, making a winner out of Matt Harvey who tossed seven shutout innings.
The homer off Quintana came as Walker was batting right-handed. Walker has been phenomenal as a right-handed batter this year, something that has eluded him much of his career. Before Sunday’s day game, Walker boasted a line of .341/.396/.727 as a right-handed batter, good for a 1.123 OPS with five of his 13 home runs to date coming from that side of the plate.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
While there were a few options to choose from for MMO’s Pitcher of the Week, including another strong performance from Syndergaard and a resurgent outing from Harvey against the White Sox. However, I chose setup man Addison Reed as the Pitcher of the Week, who appeared in five of the Mets six games from May 29th the June 4th.
Reed threw five innings in total, allowing two hits, one walk, and striking out seven batters. He also picked up three holds during that stretch, and now has 12 on the season, good for 6th among qualifying relievers heading into Sunday’s matinee against the Marlins.
With the Mets up 4-2 heading into the eighth inning against the Marlins on Friday night, Reed entered the game facing the heart of the Marlins’ lineup. He promptly struck out Martin Prado on four pitches, gave up a single to Christian Yelich, and then struck out Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton on called strikes. It was the tenth time this year that Reed has struck out multiple batters in an inning.
Reed has been the Mets best bullpen option this year, sporting a 1.75 earned run average and minuscule 0.94 WHIP, the best among all Met relievers thus far. His FIP actually has Reed pitching better than his ERA suggests, currently at 1.68, good for eighth place among active relievers before Sunday’s game.
This trade keeps looking better and better for GM Sandy Alderson, who brought Reed over to the Mets at the end of August for minor league pitchers Miller Diaz and Matt Koch.
