Neil Walker continues to rake. During Saturday’s game he hit yet another homer, his seventh of the season. This dinger was a bit different from the others we have seen as it was the 100th of his career.
Walker, 30, is no stranger to having a power surge out of the gate in April. This is now the third time in his career he had started his season with seven homers in April, the previous two times with his former club, the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets record for homers in April for a second baseman is held by Jeff Kent, who previously had eight in 1994.
“I think I’m getting the barrel through the zone the way I want to from both sides of the plate,” Walker said, trying to explain his uptick in power. “I tend to hit a fair amount of fly balls. I’m squaring some balls up. That’s really it.” (ESPN)
The Mets’ all time record for homers in the month of April is nine and that is shared by three former players. Dave Kingman, Carlos Delgado and John Buck each accomplished the feat. Walker is within striking distance of that record, with six games remaining in the month.
The Mets’ second baseman has had quite the year overall at the plate producing a slash line of .288/.299/.905. He has produced 12 RBI to go along with his seven homers. Walker also picked up his first walk of the season during last night’s game.
Walker, who was not seen as a threat from the right side of the plate in recent years is starting to get some respect from opposing managers. In Saturday’s 8-2 win over Atlanta, manager Fredi Gonzalez opted to switch out left-handed reliever Matt Marksberry with right-handed reliever, Chris Withrow to face Walker. Withrow was able to strikeout Walker in the at-bat.
“That doesn’t happen very often,” Walker said. “I think that’s a testament to the work that I’m putting in. I’m still not where I want to be from the left side. I’m getting close. But, yeah, that’s pretty rare.”
Neil previously equated the change due to the elimination of a toe-tap he would use while batting right-handed. Ridding of the quirk is said to have helped with his timing at the plate. His career high for homers is 24, he is currently well on his way of breaking that this season.
