From not making the Opening Day roster, to becoming the team’s third baseman out of necessity, down to the minors, back up again and so on and so forth, it’s been a wild and crazy season for Mets utility man Eric Campbell.
After playing pretty well early in the season, things had gone completely arye for Campbell since.
Entering this past series against the Diamondbacks, the 28-year-old had been 0-for-his-last-28 at the plate, as his batting average continued to dip further and further below the Mendoza line.
Under normal circumstances, a utility player going through an 0-for such as that wouldn’t have likely stuck around with his team, but, once again out of necessity, Campbell stuck around.
This loomed large as the injuries continued to pile up for the Mets over the weekend when second baseman Daniel Murphy was placed on the disabled list with a quad strain. Once again, the Mets had to shuffle things in their infield, and Campbell was called upon once again.
When the team needed him to step up most, Campbell did just that as he broke out of his 0-for-28 skid on Friday with an RBI single that gave the Mets an early lead. Campbell’s resurgence continued with his biggest hit of the weekend on Sunday, when he ripped a 2-run home run, his 2nd of the season, just over the left field fence to give the Mets a lead they’d never relinquish.
Then, in the 9th inning of Sunday’s game, Campbell showed a part of his game I didn’t even know existed. He stole both second and third base. These swipes were huge, as they led to the Mets 6th run of the game and gave closer Jeurys Familia a 3-run cushion headed into the bottom of the 9th.
Overall, Campbell went 5-for-12 (.416) with a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and two steals in the Mets series split with the Diamondbacks over the weekend. While the team can’t afford to have Campbell starting on a daily basis for too long, he has once again become more of a key player out of necessity.
It may not last, but when the Mets lineup was at it’s weakest point of the season this past weekend, Eric Campbell finally delivered.
Just Mets 