Players of the Week: Pham and Verlander Dazzle for Mets

The New York Mets’ week was a mixed bag while facing a pair of National League playoff contenders. They lost three out of four to the Milwaukee Brewers to cap their miserable June performance before taking two out of three from the San Francisco Giants, earning their first series win in a month in the process. Along the way, Tommy Pham and Justin Verlander shined, as both played at their highest level so far this season.

Hitter of the Week

Just when we thought Pham’s 2023 season couldn’t get any better, he one-upped himself yet again.

After opening the week with a hitless performance on Monday, Pham was all hands on deck from that point forward. He recorded an RBI double against the Brewers on Tuesday. The next day, he supplied a three-hit performance, including a walk and a solo homer off of Wade Miley. He closed out the series with two hits on Thursday.

Pham immediately announced himself to the Giants with three hits and another solo homer in the series opener on Friday. He followed that up with an RBI double on Saturday before notching his third three-hit game of the week on Sunday, including two doubles.

Pham’s OPS on the year rose from .787 to .892 this week. He slashed .520/.556/.920 with two home runs and five RBI during that stretch. He’s earned consistent playing time with his flaming hot streak.

Pitcher of the Week

With the season on the ropes, the Mets need Verlander to continue to produce the way he did this week.

Verlander ran into quite a bit of trouble in Monday’s start against Milwaukee, but he consistently found a way to work around it. He loaded the bases with one out in the first inning but induced a fielder’s choice from Owen Miller and a groundout from Jesse Winker to end the threat. He later struck out Miller in the fifth inning with two outs and runners on second and third. This ended his outing at no runs and five hits allowed with five strikeouts.

Verlander’s Saturday start against the Giants is possibly his best start as a Met. He set down 10 batters in a row from the end of the first through the end of the fourth. To finish his day, he struck out Brandon Crawford, who was the tying run at the plate, to end the seventh. He allowed just one unearned run on five hits while striking out six batters.

Verlander finished the week with a 0.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts through 12 innings pitched over the course of two starts.

The performances from Pham and Verlander might be too little, too late to save the Mets’ season, but they certainly gave some rejuvenation to a lifeless team.

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