Mets: Four players trending up as the midway point approaches

In the midst of a brutal stretch for the New York Mets, believe it or not, there are still some positives. Several players are trending upwards.

After a franchise-best 11-1 start to the season, the New York Mets have gone awry. Since April 13th, the Mets are 17-35, scored the fewest runs, and have a -66 run differential. The only bright spot has been the pitching.

As the dog days of the baseball season is right around the corner, we take a look at the few players on the Mets that are actually trending upwards. Due to the immense offensive struggles, the only players in this edition are pitchers.

Trending Up: Jacob deGrom

Incredibly enough, Jacob deGrom is getting even better. Since May 18th, deGrom has gone seven or more innings allowing two runs or less. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t received any run support whatsoever, but that’s a whole different story.

In deGrom’s last 10 starts, he has a 0.87 ERA (and the Mets have won a grand total of two of those games). The way in which deGrom brings himself about and blocks everything out when he’s on the mound is simply remarkable.

His ERA is somehow still improving and is sitting at 1.55, the National League lead.

deGrom has been simply deGrominating.

Trending Up: Seth Lugo

The Mets have a good dilemma in Seth Lugo – should they start him or have him come out of the bullpen? That is the question that’s been hovering over the Mets front office for months. It seems as if they finally settled on a decision – start him.

Lugo has allowed a minute three earned runs in his last 25.1 innings, good for an ERA of 1.07. He is third in the National League in ERA with a minimum of 35.0 innings pitched. Lugo has held lefties to a remarkable .117 AVG (7-60) this season.

On June 5th, Lugo threw a filthy curveball to Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis. It had a spin rate of 3,459 revolutions per minute, which was the highest-spin curveball punchout in the MLB this season. He gets the nod on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in what would be his second start of the season.

Mr. Lugo, keep doing your thing!

Trending Up: Zack Wheeler

After a bumpy start to the season, Zack Wheeler has seemed to have found his footing. Since May 16th, Wheeler owns a very respectable ERA of 2.52. In his previous four starts, he has pitched 25.0 innings, struck out 24, and allowed just one home run.

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Wheeler’s recent success can in part be attributed to his increase in fastball velocity. He hit 100 mph at the beginning of the month and is enjoying his newfound “fireball” fastball. Wheeler has not thrown this hard since Pre-Tommy John Surgery.

He has thrown 6.0 innings or more in four of his past five starts and his ERA is working it’s way down from a rough start.

It is nice to see that Wheeler has found some consistency in his game and is finally able to show us Mets fans what we know he is capable of.

Trending Up: Steven Matz

Similar to Wheeler, Steven Matz has also found some consistency after a rough start to the season. At the end of April, Matz’s ERA was a bloated 4.98.

Since the end of the first month of the season, his ERA is 2.68. He is starting to look like a viable third starter behind DeGrom and Syndergaard that the Mets have been searching for.

Matz has thrown over 100 pitches in his two recent starts. It marks the first time in over a year that he has reached the century mark in consecutive starts. In his last three starts, he has not allowed a home run and opponents are averaging well under .200 against him.

Two things that Matz has always struggled with are the length of starts, and the home run ball. He has seemingly fixed both of those issues in his past several starts.

Lets go Matz!

Next: New York Mets: The rise of breakout prospect Jeff McNeil

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