Players of the Week: Brandon Drury, Tylor Megill Lead the Way

The Mets wrapped up their 11-game homestand by struggling against both the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.

In a huge series, Atlanta took three out of five from the Mets to open up the week. The offense mustered just six runs over five games against the Braves’ young and talented pitching staff.

Besides a 12-5 beat down on Tuesday night the Mets pitching staff threw well for the most part, but the offense wasn’t able to back them up.

The Reds then came to town following Friday’s trade deadline, and the offensive struggles continued for the Mets. They rallied late to cut the Cincy lead to one, but the bullpen squandered a trio of runs in the top of the ninth, and they fell 6-2.

Javier Baez then provided a massive boost in his Mets debut, launching a clutch home run in his second at-bat as a Met. Dominic Smith lined a clutch two-out two-strike game-tying single in the ninth, then the red-hot Brandon Drury walked it off in the tenth.

Despite the momentum, the offense mustered just one run in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Overall, the Mets went 3-5 during a frustrating week at Citi Field, although not everything was negative for the group.

Hitter of the Week: Brandon Drury

Yes you read that correctly, during the last week of July 2021, the hottest hitter and hitter of the week for the New York Mets was Brandon Drury. 

Since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, Drury has been an absolute weapon off the bench for the Mets. This season as a pinch-hitter, he’s hitting .550 with four home runs, three doubles, and a 1.971 OPS.

After doubling in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader, Drury came off the bench with a big night in Tuesday’s blowout. He picked up three hits, including his second and third home runs of the season. He also singled in his first at-bat of the night.

Drury then propelled the Mets to a 2-1 win on Wednesday night with a clutch seventh-inning pinch-hit home run. He earned the start over J.D. Davis on Thursday, and picked up two more hits, then added another run-scoring double off the bench on Friday.

Drury picked up two more hits on Saturday night, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth. Over his past seven games, Drury is 10-for-16 with two home runs, three doubles, five RBI, a 1.835 OPS.

On the season, Drury now has a .918 OPS, 150 OPS+, 11 RBI, and a .344 OBP over 32 at-bats. With Michael Conforto struggling, Drury has certainly earned himself a few more AB’s while he’s as hot as can be.

He entered the lineup in place of Brandon Nimmo on Monday night and reached base two more times with an RBI double and a hit by pitch.

Pitcher of the Week: Tylor Megill

Over the past few weeks, rookie right-hander Tylor Megill has arguably been the Mets’ best starting pitcher. With ace Jacob deGrom down to injury, Megill has stepped in and provided the Mets with exactly what they needed and some.

In fact, he was named MMO’s Pitcher of the Month for the month of July yesterday by Alex Horowitz. Megill closed out his first full month in the big leagues with another strong outing, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball in the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Braves.

His lone mistake of the night came on with one out in the top of the sixth. After he sat down Freddie Freeman, Megill missed on an 0-2 pitch to the red-hot Austin Riley, and he deposited over the center-field fence to even the game and ultimately end the youngster’s night.

Luckily for Megill and the Mets, Drury picked him up with a homer an inning later, and the bullpen held on for the 2-1 victory. With that win, the Mets propelled to 6-1 over Megill’s first seven starts of his big league career.

Over that span, he pitched to a stellar 2.04 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, with 39 strikeouts, just 11 walks, and a pair of quality starts. He also added his second career hit in the win and scored the Mets’ first run of the game on a Jeff McNeil RBI single.

Megill suffered the worst start of his young big league career, allowing five runs over just five innings pitched against the Miami Marlins on Monday night. He’ll look to bounce back later in the week in a big matchup with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Ballpark.