While Mets Minors is only a few hours old, we felt like it was the perfect time to start handing out our player of the week award. The first MMN Player of the Week honors go to St. Lucie Mets left fielder, Dustin Lawley.

Later last week, MMN’s own Mitch Petanick mentioned how Lawley can be viewed as a bit of a streaky hitter, but right now is a time when he’s on quite the hot streak. While St. Lucie posted a 2-5 record over the past week, it was not because of Lawley’s production.

The outfielder has hit .300 over the last seven days (9-for-30). This past week hasn’t brought him as many hits as the week prior, but it’s what he’s been able to do with those nine hits that were the most impressive.

Lawley compiled an .800 slugging percentage, which included three home runs, two doubles, and two triples. So, only two of his nine hits from his last seven games didn’t go for extra bases. He also added five runs scored, nine RBIs, and four stolen bases.

Lawley has been able to use his most recent hot streak to erase a slow start to his 2013 campaign. The 24-year-old is playing in his third professional season since being drafted by the New York Mets in the 19th round of the 2011 draft out of the University of West Florida.

Lawley has now played in 40 games (160 at-bats) in Advanced Class-A ball in St. Lucie, and has seen his triple slash rise to .250/.297/.544. He’s adjusted to the Florida State League well after spending two full seasons with the Savannah Sand Gnats. There are five major offensive categories where Lawley ranks in the top-10 of the FSL:

• slugging %,  .544 (4th)
• home runs, 10 (2nd)
• RBIs, 35 (2nd)
• runs scored, 26 (7th)
• doubles, 11 (T-6th most)

How long did it take Lawley to get adjusted to the next level in his trek to the major leagues? Looks like it took him a month. In April, he started the season with a .204/.260/.419 line. May has been more kind to the young outfielder, as he’s compiled a .313/.347/.716 line in 16 games played this month.

The next thing I would like to see Lawley work on is drawing some more walks and being a little more patient at the plate. His 6% BB-rate needs to increase, but it’s been encouraging to see his K-rate decrease to 14.3% so far this season. In two seasons with the Sand Gnats, he was posting a K-rate north of 20%. He drew walks at a 9% rate last season, and as he continues to get more comfortable in his new surroundings, we’ll likely see his BB-rate climb closer to that number by season’s end.

Congratulations to Dustin Lawley, who has the prestigious honor of being named MMN’s first Player of the Week in our site’s history! Let’s hope we continue seeing him tear up the opposition with a tons of extra base hits!