It’s starting to feel like a broken record, but Mets second baseman Neil Walker did it again, blasting a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Mets a lead. And unsurprisingly, the Mets still lost the game.
Overall it was Walker’s 20th home run of the season, but it was the seventh time this season that his homer gave the Mets a lead. The 20 homers are tied for the fourth-most by a second baseman in a single-season in team history, trailing only Edgardo Alfonzo, who holds the top two spots with 27 home runs in 1999 and 25 home runs in 2000, and Jeff Kent’s 1993 season where he hit 21 home runs.
Over his last 13 games, Walker is batting .491 (26-53) with two doubles, one triple, four home runs, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored. There is nobody hotter in baseball right now and since July 27, Walker has the best batting average in the major leagues. In that time, Walker has four, three-hit games, and one, four-hit game.
Still, if you were looking for someone who was all smiles after last night’s 5-3 loss to the last place Arizona Diamondbacks, it was quite the opposite for Walker who expressed frustration with his team’s inability to string together back to back wins for well over a month now.
“It’s kind of like it’s been one step forward and two steps back for us, but we’re playing hard,” said Walker, who was 3-for-4 on the night. “This is a hard time of year. It’s a grind-it-out time of year. The teams that are out of it can be dangerous teams too, like these guys. We’ve just got keep going out there and keep grinding and hope we get hot. Certainly nights like tonight can be frustrating.”
Walker, 30, has seen his share of the postseason, having played on three consecutive playoff teams from 2013-2015 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Any team I’ve been on, especially the last three years, this is the time of year you have to get on a roll. April and May are months where if you don’t play great you can make up for it in June, July, August and September. But I haven’t been on a team that’s made the playoffs that hasn’t been good in August. So we’re grinding it out and trying to get it right.”
Meanwhile, Walker addressed his upcoming free agency before the game, likening his situation to “a double-edged sword.”
“Everyone wants, kind of, the certainty of your future, but it certainly is interesting to think about what could happen this offseason as far as teams’ interest and things like that,” Walker said. “But when you look at the big picture and you look at what’s going on here and you look at how I fit in here and how happy I’ve been … this is a really good fit for me.”
Mets GM Sandy Alderson was also asked about Walker and admitted that he has not had any conversations with his second baseman or his agents.
“Neil has had a very nice season for us, no question about that,” Alderson said. “And certainly he has been very productive over the last couple of weeks at a time when we needed that productivity with some of the injuries and other issues.” (Daily News)
“I have not had any conversations with his agent at this point. I expect that there will be some conversations before the end of the season.”
Alderson added that Walker has also filled a leadership void in the clubhouse in the wake of Michael Cuddyer who retired before the season, and David Wright who is out for the season.
“”He’s been a terrific player for us on the field. He’s been excellent in the clubhouse.”
Unlike last season, when the Mets opted to let Daniel Murphy walk because they believed Dilson Herrera was an up and coming star who was less than a year away, there is no de facto second baseman of the future waiting in the wings for the Mets.
In fact, when asked to address the future of second base after dealing Herrera for Jay Bruce at the deadline, Alderson cited Jose Reyes as the potential starting second baseman for the Mets in 2017. So it’s unsurprising that the Mets GM will look to see if he can lock up Walker for 3-4 years. Whether that happens or not is tough to say, given the many variables involved.
We have an active poll that asks you to weigh in with your opinion on whether the Mets should sign Walker to a multi-year deal.
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