The Mets had an action-packed week of baseball, playing seven games in seven days, where they finished the week with a combined 5-2 record against the Miami Marlins, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. It was a week that included a walk-off hit in extra innings, the albeit, short return of Kodai Senga, a grand slam, a couple of multi-home run performances and saw the Mets catapult to the top seed in the National League Wild Card standings, to then fall back behind the Braves and Padres in the Wild Card race. It was another slate of games where the Mets continued to exhibit why they have become buyers moving into this season’s trade deadline.
Jul 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) watches his two run home run against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Lindor is powering his way through the beginning of the second half of the 2024 season. He is on quite a power surge lately, smacking five home runs across 29 at-bats this week, including a pair of two home run games. He hit a pair of solo shots in Monday’s 6-4 victory in Miami. Two days later, Lindor hit another duo of long balls in a 12-3 routing of the Yankees, hitting one from both sides of the plate at Yankee Stadium. Lindor leads the team with 22 homers this season, with Pete Alonso trailing by only one after homering in Sunday’s loss to the Braves.
Lindor combined to go 8-for-29 at the dish with five home runs and ten RBIs in seven games. He also added one double and one walk to help inflate his OPS to .807 on the year. His recent hot stretch has even garnered some MVP chants at Citi Field. It’s safe to say the fans are all aboard the Lindor train. He joins only Shohei Ohtani with 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases across Major League Baseball this season.
Jul 25, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Luis Severino (40) delivers a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Severino looks sharp out of the break, picking up right where he left off. He continued to do so in the series opener of the four-game set against the Braves. It was a big series for both teams as they battled out positioning for the NL Wild Card, and his performance Thursday night proved to have a little extra importance, with the Mets dropping the weekend portion of the series.
The veteran right-hander looked solid through his first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth before being pulled without recording an out in the inning. His final line included two earned runs, seven hits, six strikeouts and two walks. While he didn’t pick up the win, he kept the team in a tight game before the Mets offense put the game away with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning. With Senga returning to the injured list with a calf strain, Severino once again will be relied upon to go deeper into games and lead this starting rotation with the way he’s been performing.
Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
If it hadn’t been for Lindor’s five long balls this week, McNeil would have earned the Player of the Week honors. After seeing his playing time take a hit due to lack of production before the break, McNeil made it into the starting lineup in all seven games this week for the Mets. He went 9-for-26 with two home runs, four doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored over the week.
McNeil has found himself in a groove since the All-Star break. He’s blasted four homers in ten games since the break, almost doubling his season total in the short amount of time. With nine home runs on the year, he had only five total going into the break. Before his recent run, he had been having by far the worst season in his Major League career, and it seemed like a possibility that he wouldn’t finish this season in a Mets uniform. He’s worked his way to nix that conversation with his much-improved play, and if he keeps it up, it makes the Mets lineup that much deeper.
The Mets will host the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series starting Monday night at Citi Field. It will be the first time this season that these two teams square off against each other. Like the Mets, the Twins find themselves with one of the three Wild Card spots in their respective leagues. It should make for a fun and competitive inter-league series.
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