We’ve all heard the expression that when Player X gets hot, he can carry a club for two weeks. Well, you may not have heard it used in conjunction with Neil Walker but he’s certainly been on a tear that any hitter would be proud to call his own. Since July 27, a span of 19 games, Walker has a .455/.488/.740 line. With mashing like that, combined with the Mets’ pitching, you’d figure the club was on a good run. But the Mets are just 6-13 despite Walker’s heroics.
The rest of his offensive mates are struggling and even the pitching has shown some major holes here recently. Earlier, it was a guaranteed win if the Mets scored five runs. But in their last 19 games, the club is just 3-5 when they put up at least five runs.
Walker himself was a big reason why the club struggled in May, June and most of July. After getting off to a sizzling start, and seeing teammates hit the disabled list left and right, Walker was asked to carry a bigger load offensively, even taking over the cleanup spot in the order. But from May 2 to July 26, Walker was a black hole, putting up a .205/.294/.319 line over 262 PA.
In this season of streaks, Walker’s overall season totals look like his baseball card. In 2014, Walker put up a .271/.342/.467 line. After 109 games and 440 PA this season, Walker checks in with a .279/.341/.470 line. He’s doing a near exact match of what he did previously. It’s just come in a really odd way.
You don’t get to pick and choose when a guy gets hot. Still, it’s hard not to wish that Walker’s hot streaks were a little better timed. If this electric 19-game hot streak had come in late May – early June when the Mets were consistently losing one and two-run games, maybe the club would have been 13-6 – a record much more fitting an offensive outburst like what Walker’s been on.
How long can Walker keep raking? No one has any idea. What we do know is that he’s getting ready to go off on paternity leave. Hopefully, it won’t cause the same uproar among the mainstream media as when Daniel Murphy did the same. Perhaps Yoenis Cespedes will be back to pick up the slack. And there’s no rule saying that only one guy can be hot at the same time, either. Hey Jay Bruce, you’re 8-50 since joining the club, with just two extra-base hits. Mind picking up the pace here, pal?
Not to mention the ice-cold Curtis Granderson, with a .317 OBP (.250 for the last 28 days)! And Jose Reyes with an OBP of .291.
Walker will likely only miss 2 games for the childbirth if all goes smoothly. And if Mike Francesa has anything to say about it, he can go stroke A-Rod’s ego.