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New York Mets: Inside Neil Walker’s Hot Start

By Joe Perri

Apr 20, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker (20) scores during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 20, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker (20) scores during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker is off to a powerful start with his new team.

Neil Walker has put together an epic beginning to the 2016 campaign with his new ball club. Not many people could have predicted this start for the former Pittsburgh Pirate, not even Walker himself.

Daniel Murphy‘s successor at second base is currently tied for third in the major leagues in home runs with nine. His ninth home run was a franchise-tying record for homers hit in the month of April, putting him with the likes of Carlos Delgado and Dave Kingman.

“Probably never been on a home run tear like this,” Walker said. “You have your stretches where you get hot … but never like this.”

Walker is on pace to shatter his career averages. Walker is a career .273 hitter who averages 12 home runs a season and has a lifetime slugging percentage of .436. He’s almost batting thirty points above his average, 20 percent above his slugging percentage and he needs just three more home runs to reach his career average of 12.

Clearly Neil Walker has been doing something right, but what? What has he done differently this year that he wasn’t doing in previous seasons? We look to Fangraphs for our answer.

The numbers that stick out from the rest are his “Batted Ball” statistics:

Screen Shot 2016-04-30 at 11.49.22 AM
Screen Shot 2016-04-30 at 11.49.22 AM /

The major difference between the Neil Walker of old and the Neil Walker of 2016 is his increase in hard hit percentage, decrease in ground ball percentage and increase in fly ball percentage. You put these three elements together, and you get more home runs and extra base hits. 

It’s hard to imagine that the new second baseman for the New York Mets can keep up this astronomical pace, but there’s another interesting note to take from Neil Walker’s career.

He could be a late bloomer. While he only averages 12 home runs a season, that number has jumped to 19 over the past three years.

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At 30 years of age, Walker could be on the verge of his best major league season ever. Whether a change of scenery has played a role in his uptick of production, or just a matter of making better contact with the ball, it has been a special month of April for the Mets newcomer.

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