Four straight losses to open the New York Mets’ week of August 8 to August 14 opened up a ton of deserved criticism and highlighted many flaws this team has had over the course of the 2016 season. The inability to hold runners on base, throwing out base-runners, hitting with runners in scoring position, timely hitting, and of course the odd moves Terry Collins has made or not made, led to much debate and sparked a rash of fan ideas of how this team could improve moving forward.
As we head towards the final stretch of the season, the Mets are somehow still entangled in the second Wild Card spot, hoping to gain ground on the Marlins, Cardinals, and Pirates, all teams currently ahead of the Mets for the second spot. Believe it or not, the Mets have somewhat of a coveted schedule the rest of the way, facing the Phillies 10 more times, the Braves six more times, the Reds and Twins three games apiece, and the Diamondbacks three more times this week in Arizona, starting Monday night.
The Mets haven’t had a winning week since the week of the All-Star break from July 11 to July 17, where in abbreviated play they went 2-1 against the Phillies. Although the Mets went 2-4 this past week, they did win the last two against the Padres, looking to carry some momentum into their 10-day road trip facing the Diamondbacks, Giants, and Cardinals, which could make or break their season.
With the demotion of Michael Conforto for the second time this year, and the recent call-ups of local product T.J. Rivera, along with RHPs Gabriel Ynoa and Seth Lugo, the Mets are hoping some of their recent call-ups offer some stability to a roster in flux. The good news is that Jose Reyes has returned from his left oblique strain and is playing shortstop until Asdrubal Cabrera is ready to return. And as reported by Michael Mayer on Saturday, Yoenis Cespedes is set to make his rehab start on Monday with the St. Lucie Mets, and looks to be activated for Friday’s night game in San Francisco, hopefully in time to help the orange and blue fight for the second Wild Card spot.
As always, here are your MMO Players of the Week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: NEIL WALKER
Neil Walker is MMO’s Offensive Player of the Week, the second week in a row for the 30-year-old second baseman. Walker went 9-for-23 (.391), with two home runs, four runs batted in, four runs scored, and three walks. Walker recorded at least one hit in five of the six games this week, and in the game he didn’t get a base hit in, he walked three times instead.
Walker had a clutch 2-run homer in Tuesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks, when in the bottom of the sixth and Curtis Granderson on second after a lead-off double, Walker crushed a first-pitch fastball off of Zack Greinke into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen out in right-center, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Walker also scored the winning run in Saturday night’s walk-off against the Padres at Citi Field, as he led off the bottom of the eleventh with a single to right, advanced to third on a James Loney single to left, and dashed home on a Wilmer Flores fielder’s choice that second baseman Ryan Schimpf threw wide of home, plating Walker for the winning run. Walker also opened the scoring for the Mets in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to left on a 3-2 knuckle curve off Padres’ starter Jarred Cosart.
Walker has been fantastic since the All-Star break, putting up a slash line of .333/.382/.549 with six homers, 16 RBI, 14 runs scored, and eight walks. If the season ended today, Walker’s .798 OPS would be his third best OPS of his career, behind only his 2010 campaign (.811), and his 2014 season (.809).
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: STEVEN MATZ
Steven Matz earns MMO’s Pitcher of the Week, as he made two starts, one against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, and the other on Sunday in the Met’s 5-1 victory over the Padres.
Matz threw 120 pitches in Tuesday night’s game, getting behind in many counts during his outing, including a 30-pitch first inning. But the 25-year-old lefty held the Diamondbacks to only two runs in six innings of work, surrendering solo homers to Brandon Drury in the second, and Paul Goldschmidt in the sixth, both on sinkers. Matz did match his career high in strikeouts that night with nine.
Matz rebounded in Sunday’s start though, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Padres. Matz was more economical in this start, tossing 105 pitches (68 strikes) in 7.1 innings pitched. He gave up only one hit, a single to Alexi Ramirez with one out in the eighth, walked two batters, and struck out eight. Matz lowered his ERA from 3.60 to 3.40 after his brilliant performance Sunday. With the win Sunday, the Mets have finally won back-to-back games since July 6-7.
It was encouraging to see Matz have two quality starts, as he has struggled since mid-June, and also been dealing with loose bodies and a bone spur this season. Matz is approaching his career high in innings pitched, which was in 2015 where between the minors and majors he logged 141 innings. Matz currently has 132.1 after the 7.1 brilliant innings on Sunday.
