Players of the Month: Walker, Nido Keeping the Mets Afloat

The month of May was a bit of a roller coaster for the New York Mets.

Despite losing the majority of their Opening Day starting lineup to injuries, the Mets somehow ended the month with a stellar 17-9 record. They also held their own against their National League East opponents, wrapping up with a record of 6-3 on the month.

Prior to Tuesday’s heartbreaking extra-inning loss, the Mets were riding a five game winning streak. Even with the loss, they are still sitting pretty atop the National League East with a 26-21 record.

With an incredible 17 players on the IL at one point, the Mets received contributions from everyone on the roster. This month was truly a team-effort from the very top of the roster to the bottom, making it very hard to pick one standout player of the month on both sides of the ball.

However, we had to narrow it down to just these two, so here are the Players of the Month for the month of May.

Hitter of the Month: Tomas Nido

The ‘Bench-Mob’ played a tremendous part in the Mets’ success over the past month. With more and more players ending up on the IL, Tomas Nido, Jose Peraza, Kevin Pillar, and Jonathan Villar quickly ended up taking over as regulars in the lineup.

The backups truly didn’t miss a beat, and have been playing absolutely remarkably to help keep the Mets afloat. Of note, Nido has been outstanding both at the plate and behind the dish during the 2021 season.

Nido took over full-time for the struggling James McCann behind the plate over the past month, and was massive for the battered Mets lineup. During 15 games in May, he hit .286 with an .872 OPS and .340 OBP.

Over his past 30 games, he is hitting .263 with a .311 OBP and a .802 OPS. In that same span, Nido has driven in 11 runs and launched three homers, two of which were clutch late-inning shots to propel the Mets to victories.

On the season, he has six extra-base hits and a .803 OPS and 127 OPS+ through 57 at-bats. He also has five caught stealing’s in nine attempts, and ranks as one of the top pitch framers in baseball.

With Pete Alonso back and McCann no longer residing at first, it will be interesting to see how the playing time is split between the two backstops. Either way, it has certainly been a very pleasant surprise to see the strides Nido has made offensively this season.

Honorable Mention: Jose Peraza, Jonathan Villar

Pitcher of the Month: Taijuan Walker

As a unit, the entire Mets pitching staff was spectacular during the month of May. The starting pitching kept them in numerous games, and the bullpen closed the door, and even stepped up with numerous bullpen games throughout the month.

There are plenty of guys that certainly could’ve been in contention here. Of course, I could’ve very easily picked Jacob deGrom with his monster start to the season, but what Taijuan Walker has brought to this 2021 Mets starting rotation has been absolutely spectacular.

It’s pretty crazy to think that heading into spring training, Walker remained a free agent. The 28-year old has proven to be an absolute steal for the Mets, and has been an extremely valuable piece thus far.

He made five starts over the month of May, and went 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and struck out 26 batters in 28 innings of work. Walker, of course, left one start early and missed another with right side tightness.

On the season, Walker is 4-1 with a 0.93 WHIP and 49 strikeouts. His 1.84 ERA ranks as the second-lowest ERA through nine starts in team history. He trails only Al Leiter, who posted a 1.49 ERA over his first nine starts with the club.

Walker figures to remain a key figure in this Mets rotation over the next two seasons, and he’ll look to keep things rolling when he opens his June tenure against the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

With Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco down, the Mets need the big three of Walker, deGrom, and Marcus Stroman to continue carrying the load for this starting rotation.

Honorable Mention: Jacob deGrom, Sean Reid-Foley