Players of the Week: Nimmo, Walker Steady Mets

As good as a start the Mets got off to over the first month of this season, you knew they would lose a series eventually.

The grueling nature of a 162 game Major League Baseball season has its fair share of peaks and valleys, and for the Mets, one of those bumps in the road occured this past week. After another series victory over the lowly Washington Nationals, the Mets returned home to an energetic Citi Field crowd, only to drop two of three games to a Mariners team making its first trip to Queens since 2008.

While the Mets made a serious run at a series win with a thrilling comeback in the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, the rally fell just short when Pete Alonso struck out on a 3-2 count with two outs and the bases loaded. Despite the nail biting loss, the Metropolitans showed fight in their last frame, pushing two runs across the plate to make it a competitive ballgame in the end.

By week’s end, the Mets went an even 3-3, but enter Monday with a solid 5 1/2 game lead in the NL East. Mixed into a few of last week’s frustrating losses were very impressive weeks from Brandon Nimmo and Taijuan Walker, who batted over .400 and pitched seven shutout innings, respectively.

Hitter of the Week

Brandon Nimmo put together one of his best weeks of the 2022 season, slashing .435/.500/.652, with four extra base hits, three runs batted in, and three walks. In fact, Nimmo collected a base hit in all six games he played last week, which included three multi-hit games.

In Sunday’s loss, Nimmo added a two-RBI triple and a RBI-double to his resume, playing a major role in the Mets comeback effort. Nimmo’s consistent ability to get on base has pushed him around the bases as well, as he scored four times in the week, crossing the plate once per game in each contest from May 11 through May 14.

Nimmo now has an 11-game hitting streak and has been on base in 26 straight games.

Pitcher of the Week

Taijuan Walker threw a gem on Thursday afternoon, allowing three hits and no runs across seven dominant innings. Despite walking just one batter, Taijuan struck out just one National as well, a rarity in today’s game for such a lengthy outing. Only one National batter reached second base, and even then, Juan Soto was quickly retired when both him and Josh Bell were both thrown at at third base on the same play – made possible by both heads-up Mets defense and poorly timed baserunning by the Nats.

Throwing all six of his pitches at least six times each throughout his start, Walker was effective in utilizing his entire arsenal. He threw six different pitches at least six times in the outing. This strong start by Walker was especially needed after he lasted four innings in his previous start, allowing six runs on nine hits to the Phillies on May 5. Walker’s season ERA is now back down to an even 3.00.