Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
There’s no way to spin it as a good week for the Mets following them getting swept by the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. Still, Jeff McNeil and Drew Smith proved their value to the team by showing up when the Mets needed to absolutely win games.
Hitter of the Week
Jeff McNeil continued his tear in September, batting .524/.546/.667 over the last seven days with a home run, two runs batted in and zero strikeouts in 22 plate appearances.
McNeil has been the Mets most consistent hitter throughout the season. Against the Braves this weekend, McNeil went 7-for-13.
He’s currently in the midst of a tight race for the National League and Major League batting title. He sits barely behind Freddie Freeman in average (.327 vs. .326).
This award could’ve gone to Eduardo Escobar who on Wednesday single-handedly dragged the Mets to a win over Miami with a five RBI performance but McNeil’s consistency and terrorizing of Atlanta pitching during the largest series of the year gives him the nod.
Pitcher of the Week
Typically this goes to a Mets pitcher who had an impeccable performance. If the Mets were able to win a game against Atlanta it likely would’ve gone to one of Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, or Chris Bassitt. But the entire starting rotation crumbled this week.
Drew Smith, who has worked his way back from injury, made four appearances last week, pitching clean sheets in all of them.
He pitched a clean inning on Sunday in Oakland, earned the win against Miami on Wednesday, and got the outs he needed to against Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday.
Smith likely had the best relief outing of the season on Wednesday. He entered in the 10th inning against the Marlins and didn’t allow the runner on second to score, striking out two of the three batters he faced. That allowed the Mets to walk the game off in the bottom of the inning and enter the weekend with a lead in the National League East standings.
