Lucas Duda in 2014
There are a couple of candidates to finish this list with. How many people really talk about Cliff Floyd’s 24 home runs in 2005? Or how about when Ike Davis smashed 32 in 2012?
I think those are a little more memorable—Floyd’s because of his popularity and Davis’ because of how much hype there was for him and the one time he kind of lived up to it.
This last entry is for a guy I think we all knew had power but many of us forget he ever reached 30. I am, of course, referring to Lucas Duda.
Duda never seemed to fully dig his heels in at Citi Field during his time with the Mets. He arrived to the big leagues a year too late, first joining the club for the 2010 season. In the years after, he provided them with some occasional pop.
In 2014, Duda found his best home run stroke when he cracked 30 long balls. It was the first season of his career where he surpassed 500 plate appearances. Duda made the most of it.
Equally as impressive, Duda managed to reach 92 RBI for the year. So close to 100, he made the most of those dongs.
It took Duda until the final game of the season to reach 30. In game 161, he helped the Mets defeat the Houston Astros 2-1. His ninth inning walk-off shot against Tony Sipp accounted for the lone runs the Mets scored in this affair.
A day later, in the season finale, Duda brought his whooping stick to the park yet again. A two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth put him at 30 for the season. It was the last at-bat he would have for the year. As he did more often than ever in 2014, he used it to hit a home run.
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Which 30+ home run seasons did you forget about?