Bruce continues hot offensive streak
During the offseason, the Mets failed to find a taker for Jay Bruce. Now, with his stock seemingly at its highest level yet, the hot-hitting outfielder is only making it harder for the Mets to finally trade him.
At the All-Star break, the Mets looked like clear sellers — general manager Sandy Alderson said Friday that “things would have to go exceedingly well for us to realistically change direction” — but Bruce kept hope alive of a second-half surge after sparking the offense in a second straight decisive win over the Rockies, 9-3, and blasting a threerun home run in the first inning of Saturday night’s win at Citi Field.
“It’s just two games, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played,” Bruce said. “We still have to play great, but we just want to give ourselves a chance and that’s what we’ve done these first two games.”
Bruce, who went 1-for-4 with two runs, has a teamhigh 24 home runs and 62 RBIs this season. The impending free agent currently has a six-game hitting streak, and has homered in four games during that span, while batting .346 (9for-26) with seven RBIs and six runs.
Following Friday’s 14-2 win, the Mets offense was given an early opportunity to take control again after Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood walked back-to-back hitters to open the bottom of the first. Two batters later, Bruce crushed a 1-0 fastball deep to center field to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Acquired last summer after hitting .265, with 25 home runs for the Reds, the veteran slugger was a massive disappointment in his first two months with the Mets, batting .219 with eight home runs in 50 games.
Looking to make room in their crowded outfield — and shed salary following Yoenis Cespedes signing of a four-year, $110 million deal — the Mets attempted to unload Bruce, but weren’t able to negotiate a satisfying return.
Now, nearly one year after coming to Queens, Bruce is contributing in the middle of the lineup exactly as the Mets envisioned he would. It could be too late. It could be just in time.