POTW: Severino Tosses a Gem, Lindor Stays Hot

The Mets finished the week at 3-3 against two sub .500 ball clubs in the Oakland A’s and Miami Marlins. It was a week in which the Mets could have taken advantage of a lighter schedule to get a boost in the National League Wild Card standings, but the opposition deserves some credit. Nonetheless, the Mets enter play on Monday, sitting just two games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final wildcard position.

Offensive Player of the Week: Francisco Lindor

Lindor has thrown his hat into the conversation for the National League Most Valuable Player award, although he is still behind the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Ketel Marte. Considering a dormant start to his 2024 campaign and the fact he did not make the All-Star team, it speaks volumes that he is floating around the MVP conversation due to his strong performance ever since the beginning of May. It doesn’t hurt the fact that entering Monday, Lindor leads NL players in WAR at 5.9. Ohtani is second at 5.8 and Ketel Marte in third at 5.4.

He finished the week 9-for-26 at the plate with two home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored while adding a double and triple each. Lindor was consistent all week, producing three multi-hit games, raising his season batting average to .264. He now has 42 multi-hit games this season.

Lindor led off Saturday afternoon’s game with a solo shot to put the Mets on top 1-0 in a game that saw the team score in each of the first four innings and never looked back. He stepped up to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd in the bottom of the ninth inning, trailing by a run on Sunday with a chance to play the hero, but just missed a walk-off three-run homer by no less than five feet. Mark Vientos would go on to strikeout swinging to end the game for a Mets loss.

Pitcher of the Week: Luis Severino

Severino was lights out on Saturday against a depleted Marlins lineup, where he pitched a complete game shutout in a 4-0 win. It was the first shutout for Severino since 2018, which was the last time he had made it onto an All-Star roster. The most recent complete game shutout by a Mets pitcher came on April 23, 2021, by no other than Jacob deGrom.

What made Sevy’s dominant performance all the more impressive was pitching through some tough weather that included heavy rain at one point and wet fields throughout much of it. He kept his pitch count down in the early innings, allowing Carlos Mendoza to lean on the hot hand going down the stretch. Mendoza took a mound visit in the ninth inning after Jake Burger was hit by a pitch. Whatever he and Severino talked about, the Mets manager felt comfortable enough to stick with his starter the rest of the way, and it paid off.

Severino finished his outing with eight strikeouts, allowing only four hits and one walk. It was a great sign to see the veteran right-hander bounce back after a handful of not-so-great outings in his previous three starts.

Honorable Mention: Pete Alonso

The Polar Bear put together a solid week, blasting two home runs with six RBIs. In the Mets’ 9-1 victory over Oakland on Wednesday, Alonso went 4-for-4 at the dish, which included a home run and 3 RBIs. He’s been moved around in the batting order recently, but it hasn’t seemed to change his approach at the plate. This team could hugely benefit from a hot streak of his down the stretch run with the wildcard race being so close.

Up Next

The Mets host the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field for a three-game series starting Monday night. They’re one of the top teams in the American League and are currently fighting for the top position in the AL East with the New York Yankees. The Mets will then travel back to the West Coast to take on the scorching-hot San Diego Padres, who currently hold the first NL Wild Card spot, for a four-game weekend series.

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