This past week was an awful one for the New York Mets. While they avoided the sweep against Atlanta with a win last night, the Mets had dropped their last seven contests, starting with the now-infamous meltdown against the Chicago Cubs.

While the most consistent thing about the Mets has been their bullpen blowing leads, the lineup has continued to produce, namely the young players like Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith. This week, Smith mashed four homeruns, while Wheeler made another great start ahead of his potential departure at the trade deadline.

Hitter of the Week – Dominic Smith

Dominic Smith continued his breakout season this week, as a power surge doubled his home run total from four to eight.  Smith’s four homeruns were all hit to the opposite field, and he collected nine more hits and scored seven runs. On the season, Smith features an impressive line of .328/.418/.590, with a team-best OPS of 1.009.

Smith stats for the past week are as follows: .360/.407/.880, 9 H, 7 R, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2B, SB, 11 K

As the Mets continue to fall in the standings one thing has become clear, they need to play their young position players everyday. Time will tell whether Smith’s glove can hold up in left field long-term, but he is clearly one of the best hitters on this team.

Pitcher of the Week – Zack Wheeler

Good pitching has been hard to come by for the Mets, but Zack Wheeler was definitely not part of the problem this week. Wheeler squared off against Aaron Nola in a pitcher’s duel on Thursday, that saw the starting pitchers combine to allow just three hits between them.

Wheeler threw six quality innings, allowing just one run on a homer by Bryce Harper. The Mets ended up getting a late lead in that game, when Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to put the Mets up 2-1. That home run took Wheeler off the hook for the loss, but another blown save by Edwin Diaz gave the Phillies the eventual 6-3 lead.

Wheeler’s final line: 6 IP, 2 H, ER, HR, 2 BB, 7 K

With the trade deadline just a month away, Wheeler may only have a handful of starts left in a Mets uniform before he is traded at the deadline. This week’s start was a great audition for contending teams looking to add a power arm for their playoff push.