This was certainly not the way the New York Mets had hoped their post All-Star game schedule would have gone, posting a losing record since the break of 10-13. While the division seems to be a steep mountain to climb at this point, with the Washington Nationals holding a commanding nine-game lead in the NL East division, the Wild Card appears to be the Mets best shot, currently two-games out as of Monday afternoon, however there are still several teams in the mix and making their own push for the postseason.
During the week of August 1 to August 7, the Mets went 3-4 against the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, splitting two games with the Yankees in their four game matchup, and salvaging only the Sunday game against the Tigers. The Mets’ schedule is in their favor for the next several games, as they face the two bottom-dwelling teams in the NL West in the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.
This past week also saw the Mets finally putting left fielder Yoenis Cespedes on the 15-day disabled list for a strained right quad, an injury he has been dealing with for several weeks after an initially injuring it during a July game against the Nationals. They also sent shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to the 15-day disabled list due to a strained patella tendon in his left knee that flared up during the July 31 game against the Colorado Rockies while running the bases.
The Mets also made two moves at the non-waiver trade deadline, packaging Dilson Herrera and Max Wotell to the Cincinnati Reds for right fielder Jay Bruce. The Mets also traded disappointing left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo back to his former club, the Pittsburgh Pirates, in exchange for familiar face, LHP Jonathan Niese.
The Mets did have some standout performances during the past week, so as always here are your MMO Players of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: NEIL WALKER
Neil Walker earns MMO’s Offensive Player of the Week, after going 11-for-30 (.367) with two home runs, four RBI, five runs scored, and a .987 OPS. Walker collected a base hit in all but one of the seven games this past week (the August 1 game against the Yankees the only one) and had multi-hit games in three of the seven.
One of Walker’s big flies came in Sunday’s game against the Tigers, with the Mets tied 1-1 heading into the ninth. The Mets were desperately try to stave off being swept, and avoid falling further behind in the standings. Alejandro De Aza led off the inning for the Mets against former Met closer Francisco Rodriguez. De Aza reached on a hit-by-pitch, giving the Mets the go-ahead run at first. Up stepped Walker, who was hitless on the day in his prior three at-bats. Walker belted a 1-0 fastball into the right-center field stands to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. The homer was his 19th on the year, and 13th batting lefty against right-handed pitching. Walker’s on pace to break his career high in homers of 23 back in 2014 with the Pirates.
Although Walker had a rough two and a half month stretch dating back to May, he’s posted solid numbers overall on the year, thanks in part to a strong April where he blasted nine homers along with driving in 19 runs to the tune of a .962 OPS. Walker has turned his season around the last two weeks, since July 27 Walker has posted a slash line of .469/.490/.735 with three homers and nine RBI. On the year, Walker has posted a .268/.330/.449 line with 19 homers and 49 RBI, on pace with his 162-game average of .271/.337/.433 with 19 homers and 81 RBI.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: JACOB deGROM
Jacob deGrom earns MMO’s Pitcher of the Week honors for starting two games in the past week, picking up the win in the August 2 game against the Yankees at Citi Field with 7 innings of shutout ball, giving up four hits, one walk while striking out eight. His second start was the third game of the Tigers’ series, where he earned a no-decision pitching 6.2 innings giving up one run on seven hits, two walks, while striking out three. DeGrom now has the fourth best ERA in baseball, currently at 2.35, trailing only Clayton Kershaw (1.79), Kyle Hendricks (2.17), and Madison Bumgarner (2.20).
DeGrom breezed through the Yankees’ lineup on August 2, retiring the side in order in innings three, four, and five. He was economic with his pitch count, tossing 103 pitches through seven innings of work, 69 of them for strikes. He also collected two base hits off of Yankees’ starter Masahiro Tanaka in the third and seventh innings.
Despite a hiccup against the Marlins on July 23 where he lasted on 3.2 innings while giving up five earned runs on 10 hits, he’s been the Mets best pitcher, registering a July WHIP of 0.98, and in two starts in August deGrom has a 1.02 WHIP. DeGrom has also gone at least seven innings in five of his last eight starts dating back to June 25.
