The collapse wasn’t as sudden as it has been in the past, but it has finally arrived. Splitting the series with the Cubs was deplorable (especially in the manner the Mets did it in). Splitting the short series with the A’s was expected, but still not acceptable. Nearly getting swept by the Dodgers due to sloppy baseball was just distasteful. When Terry Collins had, after getting embarrassed by the Nationals at home, to win the next 7 of their 8 games, I can imagine that went through one ear and right out the other for the players. While a lot of things have been going wrong for the Mets lately, there are always those few players who will put on a show and stand out in the darkest times: the MMO Players of the Week!
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LUCAS DUDA
This choice was as easy as counting to five; which, coincidentally, is the number of home runs Lucas Duda crushed this week. 9th best in the MLB with 26 long balls and easily the hottest hitter on the Mets right now, Duda has transformed from a streaky, potential-for-power guy to a premier first baseman right before our eyes. With eight hits and a whopping 11 RBI over the past week, Duda has a team-leading 76 runs batted in on the year (which is good for 19th in the league). The most amazing thing about Duda’s sudden tirade of dominance is that he is not even trying to knock balls out of the park, it just…happens. As the guys in the booth have said many times, the key to Duda’s success is for him to not become home run happy, but to continue to work counts, be selective and be a smart hitter, capitalizing on pitcher mistakes when he can. We already know that choosing Lucas over Ike Davis was the right move, but now more than ever it has become evident that the Mets have unleashed a monster who may not even be close to showing what he can really do when given the right opportunity.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: EVERY PLAYER FROM SUNDAY’S GAME
I know this is an unorthodox way of giving out the award, but Sunday’s game was no doubt the best the Mets have been in a while and it was quite possibly the only game this week where there were no major screw ups. Everyone was involved in that awesome triple play, Tejada was slick, Campbell made nice plays, Eric Young. made a pretty catch in left… it was a good all around defensive day for the Metsies. The Mets’ defense has been shockingly bad as of late, so it was a real treat to see this defense put on a show in LA. Even if the offense staggers for the last month of the season, I really hope that the defense can at least stay consistent enough to give us SOMETHING to be happy about.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: BARTOLO COLON
In what many are calling his last start with the Mets, Bartolo Colon gets to finish strong with yet another gem. A true master of his craft, Colon painted the corners, jammed hitters constantly and was able to induce a number of ground balls (which the defense were happy to constantly field for outs). Because of his dominance in his past starts, the Mets could be looking at a pretty decent haul for the veteran right hander if the price is right. Colon has been more than great for us as of late, giving us solid outing after solid outing despite faltering early in the season. Truthfully, we could not ask for anything more of him, considering this team is out of contention and already looking to 2015. He has given all he has and his starts have been thoroughly enjoyable for the last few months. Good luck to him wherever he ends up (if he ends up somewhere else at all)!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Carlos Torres had a good spot start on Monday, striking out the side in the first inning, collecting six punch-outs overall and holding the Cubs scoreless over five innings of work. Jacob deGrom, while faltering in his return from the DL, is nothing to worry about. He not only had great control of his fastball and breaking pitches, but he collected two hits off of LA’s Zack Greinke, one of those hits being mere feet away from an opposite field homer! Juan Lagares continues his defensive rampage and crushed his first home run since May in Saturday’s losing effort. Ruben Tejada was one of the many stars of Sunday’s fun fest, hitting his third home run (when did he even hit those other two?) and making slick defensive plays all around.
