With a week remaining in the 2014 season, it is time to look back on another year of rebuilding for the Mets. Although the team was not in contention throughout the season, the team had a couple of bright spots along the way that we must remember as we approach the season’s finish
1. Sandy Alderson Deserves Recognition for the First Base Outcome
The starting line up in the beginning of the year featured a platoon within a platoon, as Ike Davis and Lucas Duda would face right-handed pitchers, while Josh Satin would face left handed pitching. The idea was doomed to fail, and the Mets had to make a decision. Alderson would trade Davis, and demote Satin to the minors. As we know, Duda would go on to have a career year, hitting 28 homers and driving in 86 runs. Duda looks to be a solid piece, as he has cemented himself as a major league first basemen.
2. Improving Minor League Prospects
With Binghamton winning the championship, many players gained the important experience of winning and playing in big games. Brandon Nimmo’s promotion showed everyone that he has some power, and although his .238 average in Double-A may be disappointing, his OBP was .339, which is still pretty decent.
Michael Conforto and Dilson Herrera both showcased their offensive skills throughout the minor league season, and Herrera’s bat was so good, he was called up to the big leagues. Also, Matt Reynolds has raised interest, as the shortstop hit .333 in Triple-A, with an OBP of .385. Reynolds may give Flores and Tejada a run for their money throughout Spring Training.
The Mets’ biggest strength is pitching, and some prospects had eye-opening statistics. Steven Matz went 10-9 with an ERA of 2.24 between Port St. Lucie and Binghamton, while 19-year-old Marcos Molina went 7-3 with a 1.77 ERA. There may be even more pitching on the way to Queens in the near future.
3. Jacob deGrom Runs with Opportunity
With Gonzalez German going on the Disabled List, the Mets decided to call up deGrom, and plug him into the rotation. 21 starts later, deGrom has entered the realm of winning Rookie of the Year, as he has gone 8-6 with a 2.68 ERA. It seemed to be Rafael Montero vs. deGrom when both pitchers were in the rotation, but deGrom took this opportunity and made the most of it, as he looks to be a nice piece for the Mets rotation in the future.
4. Travis d’Arnaud Showing Potential
After a slow start, it was easy to become discouraged and wonder when everything was going to click for d’Arnaud this season. The demotion in the middle of the season seemed to build up d’Arnaud’s confidence, as he has 13 homers and 41 RBIs. With Kevin Plawecki showcasing his offensive skills in the minors, there could be some competition at the catcher spot, but do not count Travis out just yet.
5. Juan Lagares’ Bat is Good
The Mets signed Chris Young to play in the outfield, while backing up Lagares if needed. Throughout this season, Lagares’ average has hovered around .280. The free-swinging centerfielder has done a fine job this season, and is the future centerfielder for the club. The Mets will need someone to back him up, because Lagares does get little injuries throughout the season. When he’s healthy, there is no reason why anyone else should be playing centerfield.
6. Jeurys Familia is the Setup Man of the Future
In 2006, the Mets had a setup man by the name of Duaner Sanchez, and he was dominant throughout the year. Although the Mets won’t be in the playoffs this year, Familia had arguably the best year for a Mets’ setup man in some time. 68 strikeouts in 74.1 innings shows that the stuff is there, and his 1.22 WHIP shows that hitters have a tough time getting on base when Familia is on the mound. With veterans such as Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde struggling early on in the season, Familia and Jenrry Mejia really stepped up and made the bullpen respectable.
Whenever a team finishes below .500, it is easy to look at what went wrong. However, it is a big mistake to overlook the progress the Mets are making. The big league ball club is improving as some of their pieces have put it together, while the minor league clubs keep developing talent that will one day be in Queens, or used as trade bait. Either way, things are beginning to look up for the Mets, and contention is not too far away.
I’ll give kudos to the manager for creating a bullpen where one didn’t exist, out of used tin foil, a couple of usable parts and duct tape.
In particular, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black and Josh Edgin at the end of April all looked like crap. I challenge anyone that would have believed the Mets would have gotten that sort of productivity out of those parts on May Day.
Very true, the bullpen in the beginning of the year looked like a disaster. Once Valverde was cut, and Mejia was sent to the bullpen, it seemed to light a fire under everyone in the bullpen.
The three guys you mentioned may have started off slow, but they finished the season incredibly well, and will probably be contributing to the bullpen for the next couple of years.
Should we be happy that the Mets won head to head series vs the Phillies, Braves and Marlins?
Now all we have to do is start beating the Nationals….starting on tuesday.
Absolutely! Beating the divisional rivals is definitely a topic we should be happy about! Hopefully that means a higher place in the standings for next year, those Nationals are going to be a tough team once again.
All of these are tremendous pieces to being in contention next year. I can’t give Collins any serious credit for helping the bullpen as he regularly overused some guys and misused others. (If that doesn’t cue a Brian Joura LOOGY tirade, I don’t know what will.) Ultimately, these are improvements the players made, and the future looks bright despite concerns about who’s making the on-field calls.