The New York Mets embarked on a tough stretch of games to close out August and usher in September. The Miami Marlins visited Citi Field for four games, followed by the first-place Washington Nationals for a three-game weekend series. The Marlins series was especially momentous, considering that both the Mets and Marlins are eyeing the second wild card spot, and have been close in the standings to one another for weeks.
The Mets trailed the Marlins by one game before the start of Monday’s matchup, and had not only the Marlins in front of them in the standings, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were only a half game back of the St. Louis Cardinals, the current second wild card leader.
But a funny thing happened during both series. The Mets took three out of four from Miami, and took two out of three against the Nationals, leading to a 5-2 week. The Mets leapfrogged over both the Marlins and the Pirates, and sit just one game back of the Cardinals before the start of Monday’s Labor Day game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Mets starting rotation has featured several new faces in the absence of Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom. Seth Lugo, Rafael Montero, and Robert Gsellman have all filled in admirably and produced terrific outings in the past week for the Mets, going a combined 3-0 including five shutout innings from Montero in a no-decision last Monday night. The Mets will look to Montero for another spot start on Tuesday, as deGrom’s next few starts will be skipped due to a sore right forearm.
The Mets have a chance to take advantage of facing two teams under .500 in the Reds and Atlanta Braves this week, and are giving their fans hope for a late playoff push.
As always, here are your MMO Players of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: CURTIS GRANDERSON
Curtis Granderson earns MMO’s Offensive Player of the Week after going 6-for-21 (.286), along with a .407 on-base percentage and a .762 slugging percentage. Granderson had three big home runs this past week, scored six runs, had a team leading eight RBIs, and had more walks (5) than strikeouts (3). After watching Granderson struggle for most of the year, it’s encouraging to see him break out and provide a spark that he did so well in 2015 as their primary leadoff hitter.
Granderson came up big in Tuesday’s 7-4 win against Miami, and he wasn’t even in the starting lineup! In the bottom of the sixth, Granderson pinch-hit for Seth Lugo, grasping to a 3-2 lead. Granderson crushed a 1-0 fastball to deep center for his 21st homer on the year, and his first homer since August 19 in San Francisco. But he wasn’t finished. Granderson remained in the game as part of a defensive switch, and in the bottom of the seventh and Rene Rivera on first, Granderson smacked a 3-1 fastball off RHP Dustin McGowan into the visiting bullpen in right-center, his 22nd on the year.
The Grandy Man left his mark during the weekend series against the Nationals, where the Mets took two out of three. Granderson had five runs batted in and a homer in the three-game series. Sunday’s rubber game was especially gratifying for Granderson, who opened the scoring for the Mets in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly, plating Jose Reyes who walked to open the inning. Then in the bottom of third, with the scored tied at one and a runner on first, Granderson strode to the plate. Many fans had reason to despair, his numbers had been putrid with runners on base this year, to the tune of a .175 average, .560 OPS along with three home runs. Looking to reverse those trends, Granderson deposited a 1-1 fastball down the right field line for his 23rd home run of the season, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: SETH LUGO
After two strong pitching performances this past week, Seth Lugo takes home MMO’s Pitcher of the Week. The 26-year-old went 2-0 in two starts this week, pitching six innings of two run ball on Tuesday night, and then going a career high seven innings in Sunday’s win over the Nationals. The 34th round draft pick in the 2011 MLB Draft has been impressive this year for the Mets, pitching in both relief and making four starts.
In the Sunday night ESPN game, Lugo was called upon despite a blister on his finger. He had a rocky start to the game, tossing 28 pitches while loading the bases. Lugo escaped the inning cleanly, and then settled in for six more, giving up only a solo homer to Danny Espinosa in the top of the second. Lugo’s final line was seven innings of six hit ball, one run scored, no walks, and four strikeouts.
Despite tossing 47 pitches through the first two frames, Lugo tossed only 54 through the next five innings, drawing praise from Manager Terry Collins on his workman like approach.
“I thought he settled down after the second inning and really, really pitched well,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He commanded the strike zone, both sides of the plate. And really pitched well.”
As a starter, Lugo has posted a 3-1 record, with a 2.19 ERA, much better numbers than what he posted with Triple A Las Vegas, where he struggled giving up a ton of hits and not being able to control his curveball. The conditions in Vegas aren’t great to analyze pitching prospects, due to the high altitude conditions and dry air, leading to some ballooning statistics. His 6.50 ERA with the 51s would’ve registered as the second worst in the Pacific Coast League had he qualified. However, his FIP was almost a full two-runs less for the year in Las Vegas, registering at 4.66. Lugo also had some tough luck when it came to balls in play, registering his worst BABIP of his professional career at .375.
But Lugo’s found a place on the Mets roster, and has been solid for them on the year, registering a 0.98 WHIP in 41.2 innings pitched. Look for him to continue to get starts for the Mets playoff push in September, and if turns in more outings like he did the past week, then he’ll be in the conversation as starter heading into the 2017 season, and might find himself yet again on MMO’s Pitcher of the Week list.
