Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It was a tale of two weeks for the New York Mets, as they swept their division rival in the Philadelphia Phillies to open it up before getting swept themselves at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.
There was a laundry list of top performers this week, especially on the pitching side, but Mark Canha and Max Scherzer stood out above the rest as both players look to get back on track after slow starts to their seasons.
Hitter of the Week
No one needed a productive stretch at the plate quite like Mark Canha did.
Coming into this week, Canha was hitting .233/.318/.360 on the year as frustration mounted and his playing time slowly dwindled. In response, he rose his slash line to .248/.333/.404 over four games and gave his season new life.
After sitting the first game of the series against the Phillies, Canha came back with a vengeance on Wednesday. He bestowed an early 2-1 lead upon the Mets with a two-run homer off Aaron Nola in the third inning that gave New York the lead for good. In the fourth, he came through with the last offensive output of the game for either side on a two-run single the opposite way that made it 4-1.
Canha’s disregard for the Phillies continued in the final game of the series on Thursday as he blasted a two-run home run off former teammate Taijuan Walker in the fourth inning that put the Mets ahead for good and helped finish off the sweep. Canha then went 2-for-9 with a pair of walks and a stolen base against the Blue Jays to round out his weekend.
Canha slashed .357/.471/.786/1.257 during the week while adding two home runs and 6 RBI.
Pitcher of the Week
After an uncharacteristically poor start to the season defined by a series of roadblocks, it appears as though Max Scherzer is officially back.
Scherzer, coming off his two best starts of the season against the Rockies and Guardians, stifled a deep Phillies lineup on Thursday afternoon after a tumultuous first inning in which Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead.
From there, though, Scherzer was lights out. He struck out two batters in the second inning before inducing a groundout from Kody Clemens to work his way out of a first-and-third jam in the fourth. From there, he set down nine of the last 10 batters he faced en route to his second-consecutive start of seven innings and another win.
Scherzer finished the day, and week, with nine strikeouts and one walk allowed on five hits and one earned run through those seven innings of work.
He’s allowed just three earned runs over his last four starts (25 innings, 1.08 ERA), and now has a 3.21 ERA (4.12 FIP) and a 1.091 WHIP in 2023. Scherzer is back.
