What a difference a weekend series with the N.L. best Chicago Cubs made for the Mets last week. Before starting their four-game series with the Cubs at Citi Field Thursday, the Mets were having a dreadful week, losing four in a row, including being swept by the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. The Mets were outscored 20-6 in that three-game series with their division rival, and had to witness ex-second baseman Daniel Murphy go 5-for-12 in the series, with two home runs, five RBI and four runs scored. The Mets left Washington six games back of first place in their division.
But the tides changed as soon as the Mets came back home to face the Cubs, a team that was playing 11 games over .500 before the first game against the Mets. The Amazins held on to defeat the Cubs by a score of 4-3 on both Thursday and Saturday, and brought the thunder on a stormy night Friday, totaling ten runs including five home runs. That was the fifth time in franchise history that they hit five home runs in a game, and the first since June 26, 2000.
One of the home runs belonged to rookie outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who belted his first career homer that night, and drove in three runs while batting out of the lead-off spot. Since his promotion on Sunday, Nimmo has gone 8-for-28 with one home run, four runs scored, four RBIs and a .703 OPS. His wide-eyed, happy to be here mentality has seemed to rub off on the team, as they’re playing with more fire and energy than in recent past. One can’t help but to root for the young kid, as he genuinely seems overjoyed to be playing in the majors, and fulfilling a lifelong dream. The Mets have gotten lucky the past two seasons with young outfielders, last year Michael Conforto sparked the club with his call-up, and now this year Nimmo is filling the same role.
There were quite a few deserving candidates for MMO’s Player of the Week, a far cry from recent weeks where only a select few players stood out. With that said, here as always, are your Players of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: YOENIS CESPEDES
La Potencia just continues to absolutely rake, and enjoyed another strong week of production at the plate. Cespedes went 8-for-28, with four runs scored, two home runs, three R.B.I., two walks, and a slash line of .286/.333/.536. He recorded at least one hit in every game this week except the Sunday finale against the Atlanta Braves.
In the bottom of the sixth of the Mets Thursday game against the Cubs, Cespedes came to the plate with the Mets trailing 3-0 against veteran right-hander John Lackey. With the count in his favor at 2-0, Lackey left a fastball over the heart of the plate, a BIG mistake against a guy with such brute strength that Cespedes has.
Cespedes tattooed the fastball to the third deck in left field, or as Gary Cohen described, “Home run derby style into the third deck.” Even Cespedes was impressed with his own power, as the SNY cameras caught Cespedes touching home plate and saying “wow” to the on-deck batter James Loney. This put the Mets on the board and was a precursor to the Mets coming back and taking the lead in the eighth inning.
Before Sunday’s finale with the Cubs, Cespedes was batting .291/.360/.571 with 20 home runs, and 47 R.B.I.. He’s on pace to eclipse his career high in home runs, runs batted in, and walks this season. And oh by the way, that ball still hasn’t landed from Thursday night’s game.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: BARTOLO COLON
Bartolo Colon gets the nod for Pitcher of the Week here at MMO, as he had two strong performances this week. He took the hard luck loss against the Braves last Sunday, pitching seven inning of one run ball, giving up six hits, one walk, while striking out two. The only mistake Colon had came in the bottom of the first, when he served up a first pitch fastball that Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman belted to left-center field to put the Braves ahead early. He kept the Braves off the board the rest of the game, but the Mets couldn’t score until the ninth inning, when at that point they were already down 5-2.
“Big Sexy” pitched again on Saturday, facing a tough Cubs lineup, one in which is in the top four of several offensive categories in baseball including OPS, R.B.I., runs scored, and OBP.
This time, the Mets gave him an early 2-0 lead after Neil Walker belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the first for his 15th home run on the year. Colon was cruising through the first few frames, but then hit a snag in the top of the fourth against first baseman Anthony Rizzo. With one on and nobody out, Rizzo swatted a 1-0 two-seam fastball to deep center, near the home run apple. That tied the game at 2-2, though the Mets would retake the lead in the bottom of the frame, when Travis d’Arnaud blooped a single into shallow center and out of the reach of second baseman Javier Baez‘s outstretched hand, scoring two runs.
On the night, Colon went six innings, giving up two runs on four hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. The win gives him seven on the season, and was career win number 225 for the hefty right-hander, passing Hall of Fame members Jim Bunning and Catfish Hunter (both with 224). George Mullin is next on the list with 228 wins.
Colon has once again posted a solid season thus far, with a 7-4 record and 2.87 ERA in 17 games, 16 of them starts. He has a 1.17 WHIP, and currently has a batting average against of .260, which if the season ended today would be the lowest its been since his Cy Young winning year in 2005, when he held opponents to a .254 average as a member of the Angels.
