June had its ups and downs for the Metropolitans, but they were able to finish the last week of the month with a bang.
The team played two games over .500 for the month of June with its strong finish.
With their bad start, they cannot afford to continue playing slightly above-average and expect to re-enter contention. There are already rumors and talks that they will sell which is still a very feasible possibility, even with the recent success
With that said, the Mets ended the month winning six of seven to make things interesting.
Looking ahead, July 3-2o is a stretch where the Mets will face teams ahead of them in the standings. Which will give them ample time to make their trade deadline decision, for better or for worse.
June also featured the MLB Draft where the Mets selected David Peterson and Mark Vientos with their first two picks, respectively. You can check out the full draft recap over on MMN.
Without further ado, here’s the MMO hitter and pitcher of the month.
HITTER OF THE MONTH: CURTIS GRANDERSON
This past month was arguably Curtis Granderson‘s best month as a New York Met.
Granderson was tied for first in the National League in fWAR with Cody Bellinger, only Granderson had 23 fewer plate appearances.
He also sported a Barry Bonds type wRC+ (203), walk rate (19.5 percent), and OBP (.448). For the season, Granderson has a 110 wRC+ which is remarkable given how bad his April was.
This may very well be the final month of Curtis Granderson‘s career as a Met and I will certainly miss him.
He did everything the team asked of him, even gracefully going to the bench for a brief time earlier this season.
The veteran was the Mets best player in 2015 and his play early on enabled Sandy Alderson to get the pieces to make a World Series run.
He will not only be the best signing in recent years, but one of the best free agent signings in franchise history.
Not bad for a guy who fans dubbed as the next Jason Bay after 2014. Thanks for a terrific run Mr. Granderson, not only one of the bests on the field, but off it too.
Honorable Mention: Jay Bruce
Speaking of people dubbed as the next Jason Bay, Jay Bruce is the runner up for hitter of the month. Bruce finished second among hitters with a 0.8 fWAR in June.
Neil Walker probably would have won this honorable mention or even hitter of the month had he been healthy. Alas, things did not work out that way.
Walker had a 0.7 fWAR in just 41 plate appearances as opposed to Bruce’s 0.8 fWAR in 104 plate appearances.
Bruce slashed .299/.346/.588 in June with a 145 wRC+ and .390 wOBA.
MMO PITCHER OF THE MONTH: JACOB DEGROM
It was a bad start to the month for Jacob deGrom but a phenomenal finish. After allowing eight runs to the Texas Rangers on June 6, deGrom flipped a switch and is currently in one of the best stretches in his career.
DeGrom had a complete game against the Cubs allowing only one run and went eight against the Nationals and the Giants his next two starts.
He followed that up with a seven inning, one run performance against the Phillies on the last day of June.
His overall June numbers are not pretty due to his bad start on June 6, however, his ERA after that start was 4.75, it is now 3.55.
It would not be shocking to see deGrom go on a full tear in July and even earn an all-star appearance. The Mets can certainly use his dominance as they look to re-enter this race.
Honorable Mention: Addison Reed
Reed was simply spectacular this past month. He resembled the Addison Reed of 2016.
He began his month with a two-inning save against the Pirates and went on a roll from there. Reed had a 1.54 ERA in June over 11 2/3 innings.
He will likely be the talk of trade rumors and will hopefully garner a nice return.
Reed turned out to be a very good player for the Mets, even more so when considering he was an August 31 acquisition.
