The New York Mets got off to a great start last week, sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks in a four-game series and picking up two games on the Chicago Cubs in the process. Unfortunately, the best team in the NL came to town this weekend and beat the Mets in a hard fought series, leaving New York four games out of the Wild Card race.
Now the Mets face long odds to make the playoffs with 13 games left to play, but a lighter schedule brings hopes that one last surge can take place for this resilient team. If the Mets were to make the playoffs, it would start with their starting pitching, which was excellent last week. Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler each pitched a pair of gems while the rest of rotation, sans Noah Syndergaard, threw good games as well. New York’s bats went a little cold against the Dodgers pitching this weekend, but Todd Frazier rediscovered his power stroke at the right time and hopes to take this current hot streak all the way into October.
Player of the Week – Todd Frazier
Todd Frazier seems to be at his best when his playing time is on the line, as the veteran third baseman thrives with his back against the wall. With the return of Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo off the IL, Frazier appeared to be the obvious odd man out in the starting lineup.
Prior to August 30, Frazier hit .168 in the month of August, with two home runs and nine RBI. Then Frazier had a two-home run game against the Philadelphia Phillies, which saw him drive in six runs, sparking the latest run of success for the Toddfather.
Frazier is hitting .371/.476./.886 over his last 13 games, while coming through in clutch situations along the way. In the first game against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, Frazier drove in all three of the Mets runs with a pair of RBI doubles. Over the next two days, Frazier hit three home runs as the Mets blew out the Diamondbacks by a combined score of 20-1, completing the four-game sweep.
Frazier’s stats this past week: .400/.471/1.133, 6 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, 1.604 OPS
Pitchers of the Week – Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler
The Mets had great starting pitcher’s all week, except for Noah Syndergaard’s lackluster performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. Including the four runs that Syndergaard allowed in five innings on Saturday, the Mets starters pitched to a 1.59 ERA across six starts and 45 1/3 innings pitched.
Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman each had a quality start, but it was Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler that really shined, with both of them taking the ball twice this week to great success.
DeGrom is expected to be great every time out and that was definitely the case this week. He first pitched on Monday, when he struck out 11 D-Backs and yielded just a single run in a tight 3-1 victory. deGrom then took the mound again on Saturday and blanked the Dodgers for seven innings in the only win the Mets would record against the juggernaut.
deGrom’s line this past week: 14 IP, ER, 6 H, 19 K, BB
While deGrom is always expected to carry the staff, Wheeler does not have those same expectations yet he lived up to them over his two starts this week. A day after deGrom pitched seven innings of one-run ball against Arizona, Wheeler ended up doing the exact same thing. The right-handed hurler pitched around a fair amount of traffic, but limited the damage and came away with his team-leading 11th win of the season.
Then on Sunday, Wheeler shut down a potent Dodgers lineup, showing that he can be every bit as good as deGrom or any other ace when he is locked in. Wheeler was in complete command of his pitches against L.A. as he did not walk a single batter but struck out nine. Unfortunately the bullpen could not hold his 2-1 lead and the Mets ended up dropping the series against the Dodgers.
Wheeler’s line this past week: 14 IP, 2 ER, 13 H, 16 K, 2 BB
It is going to take another amazing run for this team to actually make the playoffs. But with the great starting pitching and some potent bats in the lineup, there is still some hope that the Mets have one last run in them that can carry this team into October.
