The unlikeliest source of major power this side of Trevor Story is New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker.
Walker’s nine homers are tied with Story and Bryce Harper for the major league lead. Walker also tied the Mets' club record for home runs in April, shared by Dave Kingman (1976), Carlos Delgado (2006) and John Buck (2013), and is one shy of the record for most home runs in April by a second baseman. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that was set by Chase Utley in 2008.
Walker had never hit more than six home runs in a calendar month prior to this one and totaled 11 March/April homers over five previous seasons.
Walker had one home run in his first five games (a game-winner against the Royals) but now has eight in his past 15 games -- including a solo shot in the Mets' 5-2 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.
How he’s doing it
There are a few things notable about Walker’s home-run hitting.
One is that he made an adjustment to his approach when he hits right-handed and has had a nice payoff. He is 7-for-14 with three home runs as a right-handed hitter. He’s already matched his career high for home runs when batting right-handed, previously set in 2010 (when he hit three in 112 at-bats).
Walker had no home runs in 93 at-bats batting right-handed last season.
He has six home runs as a left-handed hitter, four of which came on pitches on the outer half of the plate.
Over the previous three seasons, Walker averaged a home run for every 141 outer-half pitches he saw as a left-handed hitter. This year, he’s averaging one for every 44 such pitches.
Walker also has taken advantage of slower stuff -- both off-speed pitches and slower fastballs. Only one of the nine home runs has come against a pitch faster than 91 mph. He has five home runs against fastballs, two against changeups (in consecutive innings) by Brett Oberholtzer, one against a slider and one against a cutter.
Walker homers translate into Mets' wins. They are 7-1 when he homers this season.
Quirky stat of the day
Walker has nine home runs and no other extra-base hits this season. Elias notes that the “record” for most home runs without any other extra-base hits in a calendar month is 11, set by David Justice in August 1993 and Mark McGwire in July 2001.
