Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets’ recent woes became a tale of the past this week as the team took two out of three from a dominant Tampa Bay Rays squad before notching their first series sweep in over a month against the Cleveland Guardians this weekend. Contributions came pouring in from up and down the roster, but rookies Francisco Álvarez and Kodai Senga both turned in signature performances that set the tone while establishing them as true difference-makers.
Hitter of the Week
Despite a forgettable start to the season, top prospect Francisco Álvarez has settled in recently while flashing the sky-high potential that makes him such a tantalizing presence for this Mets team.
Álvarez’s week opened with a whimper as he went 0-3 in Tuesday’s loss against Tampa Bay, but he quickly rebounded the next day. In the ninth inning against Jason Adam, Álvarez came to the plate with two outs and two men on in a 5-2 game and removed the Mets from the jaws of defeat with perhaps the team’s biggest hit of the year up to this point. He rocketed a 426-foot homer to left center that tied the game and ultimately sent it to extras where Pete Alonso walked it off on a long ball of his own.
Álvarez’s clutch ways continued into Friday’s game against Cleveland. After opening the scoring for New York with a solo shot off Cal Quantrill in the fifth inning, he came up with two outs in the bottom of the tenth against All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and snuck a single through the infield that tied the game, setting up a Francisco Lindor walk-off single.
In total, Álvarez finished the week with a slash line of .333/.474/.800 to go with two home runs and five RBI.
Pitcher of the Week
Kodai Senga has endured his share of struggles in his first MLB season, but he picked the perfect time for his best start of the year with an absolute gem against the Rays this week.
Senga had his work cut out for him on Wednesday against a Tampa Bay lineup that leads the league in teamwide OPS and home runs, but he brought his A-game and mowed through their lineup on the way while showing off his elite stuff.
Senga worked around a couple of baserunners in his first two innings while also striking out five during that stretch. He went on to strike out two more in the third before giving up his only run of the game in the fourth inning on a double by Isaac Paredes. He locked in from there though, striking out the final two hitters of the inning and stranding Paredes in scoring position while also not allowing a hit in his final two innings of work.
Senga finished his only outing of the week with 12 strikeouts, which stands as a career-high, over six innings of work on 104 pitches while giving up one run on three hits and three walks.
