Heading into Friday night’s game against the Miami Marlins, Mets outfielder MJ Melendez had been in a real rough stretch all month long.
He had just one hit in his last 18 at-bats and was 5-for-45 at the plate in May.
But despite his recent struggles, Melendez found a way to come through when it mattered most. He came off the bench to pinch-hit in the 10th inning and delivered a walk-off two-run home run, lifting New York to a 9-7 win.
“Special,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the moment. “Especially what he’s been going through the past couple of weeks, two, three weeks. Where he gets called up, he puts together some really good at-bats and he kind of gets going out of the gate, but then it’s been hard for him. But for him today in that situation against a right handed pitcher, to get to that fastball like that. Special.”
“You got to give him credit, this guy continues to work. He was one of the ones today hitting early out there. And that’s what makes this group who they are, they’re not going to give up. They’re going to keep going and they’re gonna continue to find ways to get the job done. Which was nice to see MJ today coming through for us.”
It will certainly be a moment Melendez will always remember, especially since it was his first career walk-off over his five seasons in the majors (470 career games played).
“Honestly, pretty speechless, kind of a surreal feeling,” Melendez said. “It’s something that I’d never done before at the major league level. Definitely not a walk off home run, so it was a really crazy feeling.”
Melendez added that he had been pulling the ball foul a lot recently, but was confident that he got enough on the fastball from Pete Fairbanks. The homer ended up having an exit velocity of 105 mph and traveled 373 feet into the second deck in right field.
“I knew I got it, I just didn’t know if it was going to stay fair. That was the question,” Melendez said. “I had been hooking a lot of balls foul like the last few weeks, so that was always kind of in the back of my mind.”
The home run also came on an 0-2 pitch, as Melendez said he was simply just trying to put the ball in play with a runner on second base.
“Honestly, when I got in the box, I knew I had to put the ball in play,” Melendez said. “Obviously, give yourself a chance. Any hit right there for the most part can possibly score him. So just try to shorten up in that situation and not try to do too much.”
Melendez was asked if not starting the game helped motivate him in the moment, saying that’s part of the “ups and downs” of baseball, and credited his mindset to the message his father sent him prior to the game.
“Yeah, you know I feel like in baseball you’re gonna kind of go through those ups and downs, and the last few weeks have been kind of rough,” Melendez said. “I just haven’t gotten the results I’ve wanted.
“Talking to my dad today, he’s coached me my whole life, some of the best advice he gives me is just staying in my faith. And for me, him sending me message today of a Bible verse, Galatians 6:9… And that was just something that really stuck to me today, especially, just not giving up and keep doing things the right way. Staying steadfast in my faith and knowing things will work out.”
Melendez and the Mets will now look to stay afloat and extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday against the Marlins.
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