Lost in the drama of the failed trade which would have reportedly brought Carlos Gomez to the Mets on Wednesday were two things: the Mets lost, and in that loss was a huge night from the Mets first baseman.
Lucas Duda clubbed three solo home runs during Wednesday night’s 7-3 loss to the Padres at Citi Field, becoming just the 11th player in franchise history to hit three home runs in a game, and just the second player to hit three home runs in a home game.
The only other player to hit three home runs in a home game is Kirk Nieuwenhuis – he did it on July 12 against the Diamondbacks.
“It’s just one of those days. Sometimes you have good days and bad days,” Duda said. “This happened to be a good day.”
Of course, his big day came in what seemed to be a loss full of distraction and drama having nothing to do with the game.
Duda had been frustrated with his performance over the last two months. At one point after a loss in San Francisco, Duda was seen sitting with hitting coach Kevin Long watching video of his at-bats on three different screens, desperately searching for an answer to get out of the malaise he was in.
But he’s finally starting to break out, and contribute towards winning, which is the most important thing for him right now.
“I was frustrated. I wasn’t really doing what I was capable of,” Duda explained of his struggles. “Certainly, I was feeling that I hurt the team more than help the team. So that was tough for me. But I feel I’m starting to get my swing back and digging myself out of this thing.
“I take it personal. This is what I love to do,” he continued. “This is my job, even though I don’t consider it a job. It’s nice just to contribute. From here on out, it’s about winning. It’s not about personal stats, accolades or whatever.”
Duda has now hit six home runs in his last four games, driving in seven over that span and posting a 1.944 OPS in that time, increasing his season total to 18 home runs in 412 at-bats.
His swing is shorter, and as he said, his timing is back as of now, as he’s no longer missing hittable pitches he would normally crush inside the strike zone. But he also seems to be a little more aggressive than he was during the slump as well, not falling behind as much and attacking strikes early in the count when he can.
The results have been good. Really good over the last week.
The funny thing is, this stretch of games now has him on a similar, if not better home run pace he was on last year at this time. He had 15 home runs through the 101st game of the year in 2014, and he has 18 home runs through the 101st game in 2015. His OPS is about 30 points lower than it was at this point last season, but with this good run he has it up to .808 for the year, which is nothing to frown at.
Of course, it doesn’t erase the ineffectiveness from May 31 to the middle of July. And, he isn’t going to keep this torrid pace up for too much longer.
But, if he has found his way again and can be a consistent threat in the middle of the lineup for the next six weeks, the Mets will take it, especially if it gets them beyond the 162nd game.
Just Mets 