The New York Mets remain in limbo while tracking towards being sellers at next week’s trade deadline after taking two of three from the Chicago White Sox to begin the week before losing two of three to the Boston Red Sox this weekend. Along the way, Justin Verlander turned in perhaps his best start as a Met while Francisco Álvarez one-upped himself yet again.
Hitter of the Week
In what appears to be a lost season, at least the Mets can come away feeling confident about their future at the catcher position.
Francisco Álvarez’s best game of the week came in his first against the White Sox on Tuesday. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of both walks and homers as he went deep against Lucas Giolito in the first before doing so against Tanner Banks in the sixth inning. He carried over his momentum to Wednesday’s bout with a two-hit performance that included an RBI single off Touki Toussaint.
Álvarez went hitless on both Thursday and Friday, but he recovered with an RBI single in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game that helped spark a mini-rally that fell just short.
Álvarez finished the week with a .263/.364/.579 slash line to go with two home runs and six RBIs.
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Pitcher of the Week
With just the slightest inkling that he could be dealt, Justin Verlander took the mound against the White Sox and looked like the pitcher the Mets had hoped he would be all along.
Verlander went into Wednesday’s game looking to get on track after a pair of mediocre starts against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. He set the tone right off the bat by setting down the first nine batters in order before allowing a single to Andrew Benintendi to open the fourth inning. He didn’t allow another hitter to get on until the top of the seventh when Luis Robert Jr. tagged him with a solo shot, but that was the only damage Chicago ended up mustering all night.
Verlander finished off his outing and week as a whole with eight innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one walk.
