Former Seattle Mariner Continues Solid Postseason With New York Mets
The New York Mets avoided being eliminated and kept their World Series hopes alive with a 12-6 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series on Friday at Citi Field in New York City.
The Dodgers entered Friday with a 3-1 lead over the Mets in the best-of-seven series. New York still needs to win two straight games to earn the National League pennant. But the team still bought itself at least one more game in the playoffs against Los Angeles.
And the Mets (partially) have former Seattle Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker to thank for that fact.
Winker was traded to New York from the Washington Nationals on July 28. And he's been one of the best players of the postseason.
Winker played just 44 games for the Mets in the regular season. He batted .243 with three home runs and 13 RBIs.
Winker has significantly turned it up for the playoffs.
On Friday, Winker went 2-for-3 with a an RBI and scored three runs. His RBI came off a triple.
Jesse three-bags pic.twitter.com/Uj6Uh3MNzc
— x - New York Mets (@Mets) October 18, 2024
The 2024 playoffs are Winker's third postseason trip in his eight-year career. Before these playoffs, Winker didn't play in more than two games and maxed out at six total at-bats.
Winker was with Seattle in 2022. In his lone year in the Pacific Northwest, he batted .219 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs. He helped lead the Mariners to their first postseason berth in 2022, but was on the injured list for the playoffs.
He's played nine playoffs games this year. He's gone 6-for-19 (.316) with two triples, a home run and four RBIs and has scored seven runs. He leads New York in the playoffs with a 1.203 OPS.
New York has three former Seattle players that have been heavily featured in the playoffs this season.
Maybe that can motivate the Mariners to get back to October in 2025.
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