New York Mets: Neil Walker Gunning For Home Run History

By Kenneth Teape | Apr 26, 2016

Apr 25, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker (20) and left fielder Michael Conforto (30) celebrate scoring during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker is leading a power barrage as the franchise record books could be re-written in the coming days.

The New York Mets were staring at a huge hole at second base when Daniel Murphy hit the free agent market. There weren’t many options to replace the production that Murphy would deliver at the plate, so the Mets took to the trade route to find some help. They were able to land Neil Walker from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Jon Niese, and the Mets couldn’t be more happy with the results thus far.

Walker has hit his stride recently for the Mets, leading a team power surge. Through the first 11 games of the season, Walker had slashed .227/.227/.432 with three home runs. Since then Walker has gotten a hit in every game, riding a seven-game hitting streak and getting in the zone at the plate. During the hitting streak, Walker is 12-for-29 at the plate, hitting .414.

Walker has raised his slash line to .301/.320/.630 on the season, smashing five home runs during his seven-game hitting streak. During Walker’s hot streak, the Mets have also been on fire as they have gone 6-1 over that span. While the competition hasn’t been overly strong with series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, the Mets are beating who is being placed in front of them.

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The latest home run binge has both Walker and the team looking to re-write the record books. Walker has eight home runs in April, which leaves him one short of the franchise record for home runs in the month of April. Dave Kingman, Carlos Delgado and John Buck all launched nine. Eight home runs in a month is a personal best for Walker, as his previous high was seven twice with the Pirates.

Walker was asked if he has ever had a hot streak like this during his career, saying, “You have your stretches where you get hot and get a lot of base hits or drive the ball — doubles and so on and so forth. Obviously, never like this, home run-wise. Like I’ve said, I tend to hit a fair amount of fly balls. Maybe those extra push-ups in the offseason are helping.”

The Mets are definitely enjoying those extra push-ups that Walker has done, as it is paying off greatly on the field. Walker has been the driving force behind a team power surge, as the Mets have launched 26 home runs since their road trip that began April 15th. That ties the franchise record for the most home runs in a 10-game stretch, the last time being from June 27th-July 7th of 2004.

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That time it was also a player acquired via a trade, Richard Hidalgo, that led the home run barrage. Yet again it is another newcomer leading the way, as Walker looks to tie the April record for home runs by a Met, and continue building on his personal career-high. Walker will have four more games to tie and break the record with two more games against the Reds and two against the San Francisco Giants.

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