Three Up and Three Down: It Wasn't A National Treasure

Here’s a few quick recaps of the Mets most recent series against the Washington Nationals.

Daniel Murphy – This man is playing like he wants a contract. What else can be said about 2014 for Murph? He trended upwards in a big way this series, batting .571 with a double, a triple, and 4 RBI’s. Murphy is now batting .305 on the season and is riding a serious hot streak in the month of August, getting 11 hits in his last 26 at bats generating an OPS of 1.136.
Lucas Duda – He only managed to contribute without blasting a moonshot, or even a double. While not as impressive as Murphy, Duda batted .286 with 4 singles and continues to draw back his ability to be a complete hitter who gets on base, even when the pitches are teed up for him to launch.
Zack Wheeler – Finally displayed the maturity that true number one ace possesses. He had some spectacular defense to suppress a 7 hit offensive attack by the Nationals, but still managed to go 6.2 innings and only surrender 1 ER. He lowered his ERA on the season to 3.84 and if he continues on this trend of quality starts to close out the season, he’ll certainly make a case for opening day starter in 2015.

Jon Niese – Extended his strings of poor starts since coming off of the disabled list. He has compiled an 5.76 ERA since his return and is not the same pitcher that we became accustomed to in the first half of the season, where he was 5-4 with a 2.96 ERA. On Wednesday, Niese gave up two separate three-run homers to Adam LaRoche and Danny Espinosa over 6.0 innings, surrendering 8 hits and 6 earned runs.
David Wright – Has not produced at the same level fans were accustomed to in previous years. He batted an even .200 with 1 RBI and lowered his slash line on the season to .269/.326/.711. Wright made claims recently that he altered his swing earlier in the season, but didn’t specify the cause or reason for the adjustment. Manager Terry Collins has speculated that Wright was attempting to compensate for the shoulder discomfort he was experiencing, but either way, the face of the franchise has got to regain his previous form.
The Bullpen – Finally let up a game after a stellar string of performances. Reliever Jeurys Familia went into Monday’s game with a 0.40 ERA in his last 22.1 innings, a compilation of 22 appearances dating back to June 12. However, Familia tossed a wild pitch in the 7th inning of Monday night’s loss and allowed Hunter Pence to go home with the tying run. After that, closer Jenrry Mejia, who has been brilliant this season, gave up the winning run off of a Pablo Sandoval double.