To call this past week for the New York Mets a calamity might be underselling the current tone that has swept over the team and its fanbase. When last we spoke, the Mets were coming off a 4-3 week, winners of five-straight games from April 9-13. Yoenis Cespedes was in a groove, the Mets offense was scoring runs on a more consistent basis, and the bullpen was solid.

Enter doom and gloom. The Mets record for the week of April 17-23, a measly 1-5, being outscored by their opponents 29-18 in six games. The Mets also faced another rash of injuries last week, losing 1B Lucas Duda to the 10-day DL due to a hyperextended left elbow injury and utility player Wilmer Flores to the 10-day DL due to a knee infection. Not to mention the injuries to catcher Travis d’Arnaud (right wrist contusion), and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (left hamstring cramp). The latter had not been placed on the disabled list as of this post, however, Terry Collins was hopeful that Cespedes might return for Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves at home.

There were some bright spots though, as Michael Conforto continues to rake when he starts, and has fashioned quite the slash line when hitting leadoff this season: .438/.526/1.000 in 16 at-bats, with seven runs scored, three home runs, three RBI, and three walks. The Mets saw the return of closer Jeurys Familia on April 20, and has made three appearances, tossing 2 2/3 innings with six strikeouts. He did walk in the go-ahead run in the opening game against the Nationals on Friday, however, the run was charged to Josh Smoker, who took the loss.

The Mets open up a three-game series starting tonight against the Braves at home, before hitting the road for three in Washington over the weekend. As always, here are your MMO Players of the Week for April 17-23.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JAY BRUCE

Jay Bruce earns MMO’s Player of the Week after going 6-for-22, including two home runs, double, six RBIs, and two walks. Bruce was the hero in the Mets lone win on April 19 against the Phillies, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, double, and five RBIs.

With the Mets down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth and two runners on with two out, Bruce stepped to the plate. A first pitch changeup by Phillies starter Vincent Velasquez was laced by Bruce into the Honda Clubhouse in right field, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead.

With the Phillies tying the game in the eighth, the Mets were in need of some late game heroics, and once again, stepping up the plate, Jay Bruce.

Yoenis Cespedes led off the bottom half of the eighth with a single, and Bruce this time smacked the second pitch of the at-bat once again into the Honda Clubhouse netting in right, for a go-ahead two-run home run. This was Bruce’s second multi-home run game of the season, the first coming in Philadelphia on April 10.

Bruce seems to love playing at Citizens Bank Park, where he owns a career OPS of .948 (career best of an NL East park), with 10 home runs, 27 RBIs, and 19 runs scored.

Bruce is tied with Cespedes for the team lead in home runs (6), 1st in RBI (14), 1st in runs (13), and second in hits (19).

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: ZACK WHEELER

Zack Wheeler earns MMO’s Pitcher of the Week, after toeing the rubber for two starts during the week of April 17-23 and showing marked signs of improvement each time. 

Wheeler earned his first win on April 12 in Philadelphia, his first victory in over two years! With Terry Collins slowly letting the training wheels off Wheeler’s pitch count, it’s up to the hard throwing right hander to now navigate past the fifth inning without tossing more than 100 pitches, as he customarily did in 2013-14.

Wheeler’s April 18 start started off rocky for the twenty-six year-old, tossing twenty-five pitches in the top of the first, including a solo home run to Odubel Herrera. But the Mets’ offense gave Wheeler the lead in the bottom half of the inning, and Wheeler went the next four innings allowing just two hits, a walk, and six strikeouts on 74 pitches (averaging close to 19 per inning). In total, Wheeler went five innings, allowing one earned run on four hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts on 99 pitches.

Unfortunately, as has been the early theme to the Mets season, their offense went stagnant, not scoring another run after their two-run first, and Rafael Montero allowed four runs (three earned) in 1/3 of an inning in the tenth, sealing the Mets fate that night.

Wheeler made the final start of the Nationals series on Sunday, hoping to avoid the early season sweep. However, his first inning troubles wreaked havoc once again, this time with a Daniel Murphy (who else??!!) grand slam, giving the Nationals the early 4-0 lead.

Take a look at Wheeler’s stat line in the first inning of games this season: .353/.421/.706, 1.127 OPS, 11.25 ERA. These two games in particular scarred his overall first inning line, however, it is something to keep an eye on moving forward.

However, the Mets made it a game by the third, on a pair of home runs off the bat of Michael Conforto (1st inning solo shot) and Neil Walker (3rd inning 2-run homer). Wheeler settled in after the first, and delivered his first seven inning performance since August 27, 2014 against Atlanta. After the rocky first inning, Wheeler tossed six shutout innings, allowing just a single by Ryan Zimmerman in the third, walking two, while striking out four.

What was impressive yet again from Wheeler was the fact he tossed 25 pitches in the first inning, but for the rest of his six innings after he only threw 76 pitches (averaging 13 per inning). In total, Wheeler went seven innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking two, and striking out six batters.