What excited Neil Walker was that after two swings and misses at bad pitches, he lined a single to right field for a seventh-inning RBI.
What pumped up Mets manager Terry Collins was that the hit came with the switch-hitting Walker batting from the right side, his career weaker side.
What simply thrilled the largest regular-season crowd ever at Citi Field was that Friday’s hit continued a terrific start for Walker, the guy who replaced postseason hero Daniel Murphy at second base for the Mets.
“You certainly don’t want to put any extra pressure on yourself,” Walker, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the Mets’ 7-2 home-opening victory over the woeful Phillies, said of his fast start in his new environment. “Having played this game for as long as I have, the adage of stay in your lane, not trying to do more than you’re capable of doing [works].
“This is the first time in my career that I’ve gone to a new team,” the ex-Pirate said, “and obviously you want to make good impressions.”
That he is doing. Walker, whose two-run homer accounted for all the scoring in the Mets’ 2-0 win Tuesday in Kansas City, has five RBIs in three games. Before his seventh-inning hit off lefty James Russell from the right side, where he is a .260 career hitter, Walker drove in a tie-breaking run in the sixth. On that one, as a lefty hitter — a career .275 lefty hitter — Walker singled up the middle against Phillies starter and loser Jerad Eickhoff.
But the seventh-inning hit had Collins psyched.
“Neil Walker … in the past has had some struggles against lefties,” Collins said. “If we can get him swinging the bat right-handed, the middle of that lineup is going to be pretty good.”
Walker’s working on it.
“It was big,” Walker said of his right-handed hit. “It is an ongoing process for me. We’re working hard and trying to simplify some things. To be in somewhat of a higher-level situation and getting to two strikes after swinging at two bad balls out of the zone, to slow it down, back it up and shoot one to right, those are signs you’re doing it the right way.”
And he’s doing it the right way in the field, forming a new middle-infield combo with Asdrubal Cabrera.
“They play well together. They’re veteran guys, mesh pretty easily. We made some double plays in Kansas City we haven’t made in a while,” Collins said.
“We worked together early in spring training before I got hurt and I feel really comfortable with him,” Cabrera said. “He’s a great second baseman and he knows what to do.”
So far, Walker appears to know exactly how to win Mets fans’ affection.
“I just need to play my game and fans or whoever will make up their minds about me, whether they like me or not,” Walker said. “At the end of the year, I’ll let my numbers speak for themselves.”
