Players of the Week: DeGrom Continues to Amaze, McKinney Shines

Despite a pair of frustrating losses, the New York Mets had a very solid week this past week, and despite their past struggles, have been playing some great baseball thus far in June.

The squad put together a nice 3-2 week, splitting a two game series with the Baltimore Orioles, and impressively taking two out of three from the San Diego Padres. They secured a 4-3 season series win over one of the top teams in baseball.

The offense showed off it’s power with a 14-1 onslaught at Camden Yards, and then the pitching shutdown the high-powered Padres offense, for the most-part, at home.

There were tons of terrific performances this week, but two of the most impressive were the continued dominance of Jacob deGrom both on the mound and at the plate, and outfielder Billy McKinney continuing to shine early in his Mets tenure, even with an injury shortened week.

Let’s take a look at both players performances for this week.

Pitcher of the Week: Jacob deGrom

Let’s be honest, Jacob deGrom is the Pitcher of the Week for the Mets every single week. He has been absolutely dominant all season long, and he displayed nothing less on Friday night against the Padres, on both sides of the ball.

DeGrom seemed to have some real special stuff going on that night in front of a rowdy Citi Field crowd, however a Wil Myers opposite field two strike single broke up his perfect game bid with one out in the top of the fifth.

Myers was quickly retired on a caught stealing, and deGrom cruised on facing the minimum. The right-hander struck out Ha-Seong Kim and Victor Caratini swinging, before Brain O’Grady gave one a ride, but flew out to right-center to end the sixth.

DeGrom was cruising, and had just 80 pitches through six, but after a conversation with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, deGrom was pulled from the game with what the Mets called right flexor tendonitis.

Both deGrom and Luis Rojas’ concern level wasn’t too high postgame on Friday night, and after throwing a bullpen session Monday afternoon, the Mets’ ace appears to be on track to make his next scheduled start on Wednesday night against the Cubs.

DeGrom tossed six shutout innings, allowing just the one hit and striking out eleven Padres batters. He also pitched in with the bat, adding a go-ahead two-run single, which carried the Mets to the win and drew very loud “MVP” chants from the hometown crowd.

DeGrom now has more runs batted in (5) than earned runs (4) on the season. He is also 6-2 with an incredible 0.56 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, 103 strikeouts, and is hitting .400 with a .840 OPS through 10 starts on the season.

Jacob deGrom Stats for this Week: 1-0, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 H, 10 K — 1-for-2, 2 RBI

Hitter of the Week: Billy McKinney

While McKinney missed the last two games of the Padres series due to a sore right knee, he continued to impress at the plate to help him take home our Hitter of the Week honors this week.

After going 0-for-2 in the Mets’ week opening loss in Baltimore, McKinney showcased his power in the offensive onslaught against Matt Harvey and the O’s on Wednesday night.

McKinney reached base three times, including a pair of homers to deep right field in the 14-1 win. On the night he went 3-for-5 with two homers and a two out RBI single. He added two more hits, a pair of doubles, and drove in and scored a run in Friday’s win over the Padres.

He went on to miss the next two games, but returned to the Mets’ lineup on Monday night, hitting fifth and playing right field against Jake Arrieta and the Cubs.

Prior to his 0-for-3 performance, McKinney was hitting .302 with a 1.106 OPS, four homers, 12 RBI, five doubles, and nine runs scored in 13 games in orange and blue. On the season, he now has a .762 OPS and seven homers over a total of 54 games.

McKinney has certainly been making a very strong case for keeping a roster spot when the Mets’ regulars return from the injured list. Mets manager Luis Rojas even said pregame on Monday that the slugger could potentially see time in center when Michael Conforto returns to the squad.

McKinney’s spark has been a very pleasant surprise, and he’s proven to be a nice addition by Sandy Alderson, Zack Scott, and company.

Billy McKinney Stats for This Week: 5-for-10, 2 HR, 2 2B, 3 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB