Moving on from the NL Central to the NL East, we continue our report cards with a look at the New York Mets.
New York Mets
Record: 79-83 (Fourth place in NL East, 18 games behind Philadelphia)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Angel Pagan (.290)
Home Runs: David Wright (29)
RBIs: David Wright (103)
On-base Percentage: David Wright (.354)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: Mike Pelfrey (15)
Strikeouts: Jonathon Niese (148)
Innings Pitched: Mike Pelfrey (204)
ERA: R.A. Dickey (2.84). Bullpen- Hisanori Takahashi (2.04)
WHIP: Johan Santana (1.18). Bullpen- Hisanori Takahashi (1.13)
Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (25)
Highlight of the Season: Two separate eight-game win streaks from April 22 to April 30 and from June 10 through June 18.
Lowlight of the Season: On August 11 following a 6-2 loss against the Colorado Rockies, closer Francisco Rodriguez was arrested for assaulting his father-in-law after the game in the clubhouse. Further complicating matters was Rodriguez injuring his thumb during the melee, ending his season.
The Lowdown:
The chaotic and chronically underachieving New York Mets had another disappointing season in 2010, finishing with their second-consecutive losing season despite having one of the larger payrolls in the game. They entered the season with a $134 million payroll, ranking fifth in MLB, and third in the National League, trailing only the Phillies and Cubs. Even though the Mets finished closer to .500 than their other disappointing NL counterpart (the Cubs), that still did not make the season any easier to swallow for Mets fans, who are growing impatient to the point to irascibility. Even though star third baseman David Wright improved greatly this year, the rest of the lineup barely carried their weight, as nobody on the team hit over .300. Also, despite receiving some pleasant surprises in their starting rotation, they unfortunately could not make up for a collectively disappointing lineup, as the team struggled to put runs on the board.
Offense:
For the second year in a row, the Mets fielded a very weak lineup overall, finishing 24th in runs scored (656), 22nd in batting average (.249), 25th in on-base percentage (.314) and 24th in home runs (128). While playing in spacious Citi Field certainly does not help matters, the team’s inability to manufacture runs had an adverse effect at home and on the road, as they only scored 322 times away from home, 22nd in MLB. Third baseman David Wright bounced back from an absolutely awful 2009, hitting .283, with 29 home runs, 103 RBIs and even stealing 19 bases. Wright’s return to form certainly had to give Mets fans a sigh of relief, but what’s even better is that they have a potential star in the making on the other corner of the infield.
First baseman Ike Davis made his major league debut on April 19, and he quickly established himself at the position, featuring a solid glove as well as a bat. He would hit his first home run just four days later (a mammoth 450 foot blast) and would finish with a .264 average, with 19 home runs and 71 RBIs. Even though they weren’t quite Rookie of the Year-type number s, they certainly give Mets fans something to look forward to in the future, as the 23-year-old first round draft pick only looks to improve.
Other than those two, the rest of the Mets were not much to write home about. Shortstop Jose Reyes was okay, hitting .282 in 133 games, but his stolen base numbers have fallen, recording only 30 steals. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t lead the team in steals, as outfielder Angel Pagan “stole” the show with 37 steals, second in the National League to Michael Bourn’s 52. Also, the team suffered through injuries to some of their key bats, as Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran’s contributions were marginal this season. Even though injuries have played a key part in the Mets’ disappointing lineup this year, there’s really no excuses left for a team that has underachieved four years in a row.
Final Grade: C
Pitching:
The Mets’ pitching was fairly decent, finishing with a 3.70 ERA, good for seventh in MLB. This was mainly because they received help from an unlikely source. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey had the season of his life, recording an 11-9 record with a team-best 2.84 ERA in 174.1 innings. He formed a great compliment in the rotation to staff ace Johan Santana, who also went 11-9 this year, with a 2.98 ERA and a team leading WHIP of 1.18. Righty Mike Pelfrey turned out to be the innings-eater on this staff, leading the team with 204 innings, along with a team-best 15-9 record. It may not have been flashy, but the top three starters on the Mets were pretty solid this year, keeping the team in ballgames more often than not.
The bullpen was solid for the Mets as well, finishing ninth in MLB in ERA at 3.59. The biggest workhorse in the ‘pen this year was Pedro Feliciano, who led the majors in appearances with 92. He would finish with a 3.30 ERA in those appearances, recording a team-best 23 holds along the way. Closer Francisco Rodriguez was also having a great year before his temper got the best of him, recording 25 saves, along with a 2.20 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and fanning 67 in 57.1 innings. Other pitchers with great performances out of the ‘pen include Elmer Dessens (2.30 ERA in 53 appearances), Manny Acosta (2.95 ERA in 41 appearances), Bobby Parnell (2.83 ERA in 41 appearances) and Hisanori Takahashi, who probably had the best year of all the relievers on the team. The 35-year-old lefty would make 41 appearances in relief, recording a 2.04 ERA with a WHIP of 1.13. He was considerably more suited for the bullpen role rather than starter, as he went 4-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 12 starts this year.
In the grand scheme of things, this pitching staff wasn’t all that bad this year. In fact, they were better than I perceived them to be.
Final Grade: B
Wild Card: Stolen Bases
Despite Reyes recording only 30 steals (a far cry from his 78 in 2007), the team collectively finished with 130 steals, tops in the National League.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
Good pitching aside, this is still a sorely disappointing team. They made a step in the right direction by firing GM Omar Minaya and replacing him with Sandy Alderson, the architect of the great Oakland A’s teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although Alderson has a great pedigree, he has a considerable amount of work to do. He has to not only continue to reassemble the team to reach a competitive status again, but he also has to repair the image of the front office, one that has been portrayed as bumbling and incompetent in recent years. Although some questioned his decision of hiring the fiery Terry Collins as manager, the jury is still out on both of them to fix the team and to assuage the feelings of a beleaguered fan base.
Final Grade: C
Check back soon for the report card on the Los Angeles Dodgers!
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