Thank God the Brewers exist, or else I would have had a very bad week. I really don’t want to remember that Cubs series (seriously, is Wrigley Field cursed?), but it’s not like that much really happened offensively anyway. The pitching was phenomenal per usual, but the staff got the short end of the stick this week… that is, until Saturday and Sunday came. It was a depressing week. It was a fun weekend. These are the New York Mets. Let’s talk about stuff!
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LUCAS DUDA
If they didn’t pull themselves together for some runs over the weekend, I was seriously just going to omit this entire category. But Lucas Duda, with nine total hits over the week, recorded a hit in every game except for Friday (which, as far as I’m concerned, never even happened), as well as three multi-hit games, four doubles and a home run. He’s currently tied for third in the league with 14 doubles, and I truly think that if he continues to rake like this, he could set the club record for most doubles in a season (which is 44, set by Bernard Gilkey in 1996). As Keith said on the broadcast, less than 20 homers and 100 RBIs this season would be a disappointment. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but those are certainly the kind of numbers I can foresee Duda putting up if he gets into his home run groove. There is plenty of season left, and I know he’ll find his way. He is really making a case to be a legit All-Star candidate; I just hope that other fans around the league will be able to see what we’ve been seeing.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: RUBEN TEJADA
Eh, the defense was alright this week. It had its ups. It certainly had its downs. But when Ruben Tejada was in, he made some fine plays. Truth be told, I didn’t get a chance to watch the majority of games this week, and therefore it’s hard for me to pinpoint an outlier without just counting the number of web gems a guy had. No excuse, I know, but c’mon, these Mets make it hard on all of us! We should just collectively say it’s Juan Lagares and call it even, alright?
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: NOAH SYNDERGAARD
Wow, this feels amazing to finally write. Yes, I know, his ML debut was a bit shaky when the situation got rough, but that is something that’s expected with a rookie. I’m here to talk about his stuff and his confidence– and boy, were those both some incredibly positive takeaways. It’s evident that Noah Syndergaard is going to have to work on a third pitch (my guess would be a changeup, because that seems to be the pitch that deGrom and Harvey are also fine-tuning), but that curveball… my God. “Hook from hell” seems like an understatement now. Speaking more of his home debut on Sunday, his control was nearly impeccable. Throwing fastballs inside to a hitter like Ryan Braun? I am beyond impressed at the confidence this guy exudes so early on in his career. Overall, his fastball placement was near perfect and he threw his curveball for strikes more than I actually thought he would. It’s clear that he has to work on pitching with runners on base and in tight situations, but that’s something that comes with experience– something he’ll be getting plenty of the rest of the season. Oh, and shoutout to Carlos Gomez for being the classiest act I’ve ever seen. Seriously, this warms my heart.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
– Curtis Granderson is batting .295/.370/.523 in his last 25 games, including two monster home runs in the last two days. He’s finally starting to make solid contact on the ball, and it’s paying off. Hopefully the home run power comes alive very soon.
– Jacob deGrom went 3-3 with one RBI on Saturday, including two hits in one inning… oh, and he pitched 6.0 innings of one run ball, too. Seriously, there’s nothing to hate about this guy.
#SayNoToTheDH #NL4EVA
