As the week before the All-Star break wrapped up, the New York Mets were looking to close the gap between the division leading Washington Nationals, as they came in to Queens for a four game set. While the Mets came back to beat the Nationals 9-7 in Thursday night’s opener, the Mets would eventually lose the next three games, and the series.
Old friend Daniel Murphy continued to absolutely kill the Mets, essentially acting as a one man wrecking crew these past four games. Murphy went 7 for 17, with 10 R.B.I., four runs scored, two doubles, and three home runs. Murphy seems to enjoy sticking it to his old club, as he’s putting up M.V.P. numbers against the Mets alone, not to mention the league.
With the Mets going 3-4 from July 4 to July 10, they now sit at 47-41, tied with the Miami Marlins, and six games back of the Nationals in the NL East. They’ll look to get back on track starting Friday with a three game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. But until then, here are your Players of the Week before we head into the All Star break.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: CURTIS GRANDERSON
Curtis Granderson is MMO’s Offensive Player of the Week, after he went 8 for 25 with three runs scored, three doubles, one home run, three runs batted in, six walks, and an OPS of 1.012. Since coming back from dealing with a right calf strain, Granderson has been hitting at a much better clip, while also getting on base several times a game, including four multi-hit games in the last eight.
Granderson was in the middle of the action during Thursday’s win against the Nationals, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored, two doubles, and two walks. His double off Lucas Giolito in the fourth inning led to the Mets tying the game at 4, as the ensuing batter, Yoenis Cespedes, knocked Granderson in with a double of his own to tie the score.
With the return of Jose Reyes, Granderson has batted in the two hole this past week, and with great results. Having a guy like Granderson batting second with his .341 lifetime OBP will only help lengthen the lineup out, and give Grandy more opportunities to drive in runs. Granderson did a noble job out of the lead-off spot last year, but I like him batting second for his patience at the plate, and ability to get on base, setting up potential big innings for the meat of the order.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: JACOB DE GROM
Jacob deGrom had a strong outing on Wednesday against the Miami Marlins, pitching seven innings of two run ball, allowing six hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. With the win, deGrom improved to 5-4 on the year, and now sports a 2.61 E.R.A., good for 8th in baseball as of Sunday night.
DeGrom got into some trouble in the top of the first Wednesday, as he loaded the bases and needed 26 pitches to work out of a scoreless first. From there, the only two blemishes on the day for deGrom were two solo homers off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. DeGrom threw 117 pitches on the day, a season high for the 28-year-old right hander.
DeGrom has looked a lot sharper his last three outings, combining to go 20 innings allowing 16 hits, three runs, four walks, while striking out 20. He’s also seen an increase in his velocity, averaging 94.89 on his four-seamer compared to 93.41 in April this year.
Despite not having the same velocity as he did during last year’s All-Star season, deGrom has learned to use what he has, and has learned to locate more, and use all of his pitches to get out of trouble.
“I had to pitch a little more this first half, verses last year when I had overpowering stuff,” deGrom said. “You can get away with more mistakes when you’re throwing harder. A mistake over the zone might not get hit as hard. You might blow it by somebody. I’ve really had to pitch, locate, and use all my pitches.”
