End of the Season Awards
Team MVP:
1. Juan Lagares: With a 3.8 WAR, Lagares led the Mets in WAR, while his .281 average was second among starters. In a stadium like Citi Field, defense cannot go overlooked, and with Lagares in center field, the Mets’ pitching staff was saved more times than not. Mets management seemed to not know what Lagares was going to do offensively this season, but now they know he is a cornerstone piece for the franchise.
2. Jacob deGrom: Last year, Matt Harvey took an incredible leap forward, and showed that he is an ace. This year, the biggest pitching surprise was deGrom. In mid-May, the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher was called up to make his debut against the New York Yankees. deGrom would lose that game 1-0, but he shined throughout the regular season and is even a Rookie of the Year candidate in the National League.
3. Lucas Duda: Who said the Mets are lacking power? Duda’s highest home run total for a season was 15, which he has done twice. This year, Duda reached the 30-homer plateau in the season’s final game. The power sure is there with Duda, and it has reassured fans and ownership that they have their first baseman for the next few years.
Winner: As an everyday player, the man who impacted the game the most is Lagares. A Gold Glove candidate, and future leadoff hitter, Lagares came into his own this year. Hopefully we will be able to see what he can do in 162 games next season, instead of 116.
Top Pitcher:
1. Bartolo Colon: Signed to a two-year deal, the Mets arguably struck gold in the veteran. Finishing with double digit wins and about 200 innings is exactly what the team needed Colon to do.
2. deGrom: His pitching statistics put him into the Mets MVP conversation, but to showcase how good he was this season, deGrom’s ERA was 2.69, had a K/9 of 9.24 and a WAR of 3.0. Colon, who finished second in pitching WAR, had a 2.0 WAR.
3. Zack Wheeler: In his first big league season, Wheeler did just fine. His 11-11 record is accompanied by 187 strikeouts in 185.1 innings and an ERA of 3.54. The biggest concern with Wheeler going forward is pitching longer in games.
Winner: Even though he only made 22 starts, deGrom was the Mets’ best pitcher. With a year under his belt, deGrom will be spending his whole season in the Mets’ starting rotation, and look for him to build off this past season’s success.
Most Improved:
1. Travis d’Arnaud: We were wondering when d’Arnaud’s dominating days would begin. In the second half, d’Arnaud turned his season around, as he finished the season with 13 homers and 41 runs batted in. Not too bad of a season, and next year should be a breakout year for d’Arnaud.
2. Duda: Returning to his natural position, and given confidence by the organization, Duda’s power came out. Almost doubling his home run totals from the year before has provided the Mets with much needed power. With an OBP of .348, Duda is quickly becoming one of the best offensive players in the majors.
3. Jeurys Familia: Last season, Familia only pitched in 9 relief appearances, and had a 4.22 ERA. This season, Familia emerged as a setup reliever, and had a 2.24 ERA and almost averaged a strikeout an inning. Even though Jenrry Mejia and Bobby Parnell enter next year as the favorites to become to the closer, don’t count out Familia, as he could be thrown into the mix.
Winner: This one is truly a toss up, but Duda will be reward for his tremendous season. Finishing in the Top 5 players for home runs in the National League is truly impressive. If Duda hits left-handed pitching better next year, his average should increase, making him a well-rounded offensive piece.
Most Memorable Moment:
1. Ike Davis’ Walk-Off Grand Slam: In the first weekend of the season, Ike Davis was called on to pinch hit with the bases loaded and the Mets were down by one run. With only a single needed to tie the game, Davis provided much more than that. Davis saw the J.J. Hoover curveball coming, and launched it over the fence in right field to give the Mets the win.
2. deGrom Strikes Out Eight in a Row: The last month for a team that is not in contention may be boring, but the Mets’ rookie deGrom struck out eight in a row to start the game against the Miami Marlins. deGrom broke Pete Falcone’s 1980 record of six consecutive strikeouts, but deGrom broke that Mets record.
3. Colon Carries Perfect Game into Seventh Inning: In a game against the Seattle Mariners, Colon provided fans with hope of pitching a perfect game, but a single by Robinson Cano ended the possibility. The start was amidst trade rumors, and Colon certainly added to his value that night.
Winner: deGrom’s Rookie of the Year campaign was strengthened by his streak of eight consecutive strikeouts. This was a moment of the season that will be discussed amongst fans past this season. Therefore deGrom’s performance against the Marlins wins this award.
I agree with all, except Ike Davis, the best moment was when he was traded.
Omg, that was absolutely hysterical wilponzi. I couldn’t agree more.
Lagares had a lower slugging and on base average than Curtis Granderson despite hitting for 32 more points of batting average.Yeah he has a great glove and that will keep him in the lineup if he posts even a near .700 OPS .He also needs to stay healthy.
Jenrry Mejia could have been a fourth option for team MVP. He solidified the closer role after a terrible start from the entire bullpen, and even deal with injury whilst racking up 28 saves and a 2.77 ERA has a reliever. Still, he did give us frequent heart palpitations, so I understand why he was left off.
Duda is the one Met that added power and OBP. The Mets could not have won as many games without him. He was my MVP.
Most improved was Familia because he put together a good and consistent season when the Mets had no idea what they had with him in the early going.
deGrom was sensational and of course the best pitcher and his 8 consecutive k’s was the highlight and memorable moment of the season.
I agree that Duda should be the team MVP. I would vote for d’Arnaud for most improved. He looked like a bust and turned himself into the big hitting catcher we thought we were getting when we traded Dickey
I like to think of best pitcher and MVP positional player in the same light: Without that guy could the team possibly competed?
MVP has to be Duda from that perspective. He gave a legitimacy to the middle of the order that we haven’t had in literally a decade. Lagares, well he played well but he didn’t stay in the lineup, and he might have as easily been Captain Kirk or EYJ or MDD. Not quite the same, but close.
Pitching … tough, but to me it winds up being Familia actually. He stepped into the position of set up guy, 8th inning guy, and became one of the best in baseball. Nobody else on the team could have taken that spot. In his last 68 games, he delivered a 1.86 ERA, a 566 OPS, and out of the 68 appearances I would gauge only 10 of them as “negatively” impacting the Mets (BS/L).
Most improved – Yeah, TDA.
Pivotal moment? There was a play by Juan Lagares – y’all know the one. He reached behind himself and made this miraculous catch, I want to say it was around August when it happened. At the time, the drumbeats were just beginning to say he was the best defensive CFer … and the play seemed to cement it. Also, I would have nominated Wilmer Flores’ trip and fall (Sanchez butt-fumble-esque) negatively, and Dilson Herrera hitting a HR early in his try-out as “defining” plays for the Mets this year.
But JDG gets it for the 8 Ks. It cemented him (in my mind) for winning one of the probable two post season awards Mets players will get (the other, JL GG).