New York Mets: Top Five Current Players
Coming off last year’s National League championship, the New York Mets are loaded with talent. Here are their best players.
The New York Mets have a lot of talent to choose from. They have a wealth of pitching and multiple established hitters who are having or have had great careers. The problem for them has been down years mixed with constant injuries.
Sorting out who is healthy and who is struggling leaves the roster with few players on it. The Mets haven’t been the team fans thought they were going to be coming into this season. The Marlins and Nationals have been much better than the Mets in a division where they were favorites to again challenge for the division title.
Despite the injuries, there are still plenty of players to consider for this list and many that deserved to make it because of the talent level didn’t quite make the cut. Before we begin the list here are a couple of those players who didn’t quite make it.
Curtis Granderson/ Jay Bruce– Bruce and Granderson deserve to be on the same team. They are much the same hitter. Low average high strikeout guys who know how to hit the ball out of the park. They have both had some impressive years on their resume but have failed to ever be consistent. Adding Bruce at the deadline wasn’t a smart move by the Mets. Adding a inconsistent strikeout prone hitter to an offense that is already streaky and strikeout prone was a bad idea. Both of these guys are good just not consistent enough to be considered the Mets top anything. Especially considering both of their career-bests happened in other team’s uniforms
Jeurys Familia– Back-to-back years saving forty games for a team like the Mets is no small feat. Familia has been a great reliever over the past few seasons and on a team with lesser talent would be a lock for a spot in the top five.
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5. Steven Matz
It was tempting to put Bartolo Colon in this spot. After all he has been an underrated part of that Mets team for several years now. The problem is the amount of young talent in the rotation around him, including Steven Matz.
Matz has stepped into a rotation loaded with talent and has fit right in. Many young players would be intimidated by being part of such a team. The Mets rotation leaves Mets fans expecting more out of their new pitchers. Matz came into the season with high expectations and so far has delivered on them. He strikes out batters at a high rate, while still understanding he doesn’t always have to go for the strikeout.
The one downside to Matz is he has struggled with injuries his first full season. He has struggled to stay on the field having several different injuries this season and struggling each time to fully bounce back from them. Once he does however, Matz is capable of pitching at an elite level and has done so for several long stretches this past season.
The Mets have a rare problem on their hands once their rotation is healthy. Too much pitching and too few rotation spots. It must be a very nice problem to have.
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4. David Wright
Funny how much a few years in baseball changes things. A few years ago Wright would have been the undisputed number one on this list. Now, you have to consider his past seasons and production to even justify considering him for such a list. David Wright doesn’t make this list for anything he has brought to the Mets this season rather the player that he once was for the Mets and the numbers he put up as one of their franchise players.
David Wright has spent thirteen seasons in a Mets uniform. He is a career .296 hitter and has hit 242 career homers as a Met. He has offered Mets fans a player worth watching in down seasons and has helped lead the postseason berths that the Mets have had over the past few seasons.
Wright has had a hard road the last two years as he tries to get healthy and again help his team on the field. His days as a major league player may be limited. Despite the last few seasons there is no questioning Wright is a talented hitter and a longtime face of the Mets franchise. The problem for Wright and the Mets now is how much longer can the Mets deal with Wright’s lack of production and injuries?
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3. Matt Harvey
Much like Wright, Matt Harvey makes this list based on his talent and not the effort he has shown on the field this season. Whether it was the nagging injury that caused his season ending surgery or just a case of a dead arm, Harvey struggled most of this season.
The “Dark Knight” as he has been nicknamed by Mets fans, is currently sitting on the disabled list and trying to work his way back to the rotation next season. Once he does so Mets fans should trust he will find form again and be the pitcher he is capable of being.
Matt Harvey was the Mets ace for two seasons one before his Tommy John surgery and one after. He bounced back from the surgery better than expected and quickly became a fan-favorite again.
Harvey proved he can bounce back from injury by going through and coming back from the painful process. Although his thoracic outlet syndrome caused his struggles this season, he will bounce back from and again become an integral part of the Mets pitching staff.
Harvey is one of the Mets most talented players and will remind them of that next season when he bounces back from his season-ending injury. Until then fans will have to be content with Bartolo Colon helping anchor the Mets rotation.
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2. Yoenis Cespedes
It is rare a player can learn to hit for both power and average at the level that Cespedes has. He is the best current offensive player on the Mets roster. He also has a cannon for an arm though he occasionally struggles with accuracy.
Regardless, he is an above-average defensive player that helped the Mets tremendously when they added him during last season. Adding Cespedes at the time the Mets did provided the boost they needed. Not that winning the NL crown can be hung onto any one player but, if it could for the Mets, that player would have been Cespedes.
He has a rare ability to hit for a .280+ average while hitting 25-30 balls over the fence. Much like the rest of the Mets team, the problem for Cespedes this season has been injuries. He has struggled to stay healthy and be at his best this season. That hasn’t been a recurring problem in his career however and one that should correct itself in future seasons.
Cespedes has found a home with the Mets. He has put together his best overall production with them and may look to stay a Met in the seasons to come. The problem for the Mets will be a good one. With how much talent they have who should they make a priority to keep?
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1. Noah Syndergaard/Jacob deGrom
You cannot pick one of these talented pitchers over the other. They both deserve the top spot on the Mets top five and have been great for this Mets when it matters most.
DeGrom and Syndergaard are two very different pitchers, yet, much the same. They both work deep into games getting a lot of strikeouts while maintaining low ERA’s. deGrom has already put together two seasons of great production and has proven just how good he can be. Unlike Syndergaard, he works less from velocity and more on location. He knows how to pitch to hitters and to get guys out and work out of jams.
Syndergaard is fun to watch. If you were creating a pitcher for your team, he would throw and look something like Noah Syndergaard. His velocity is amazing to watch and doesn’t diminish throughout the game. Like deGrom he has learned to work deep into games at an early age and keeps his team close. The question is which of these guys deserves the number one spot the most?
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The answer to that question is left up to you. The Mets, however, are going to have a fun time deciding on a rotation next season as they may have the most and best options of any team in the league. Below is their 2016 projected rotation.
- Noah Syndergaard
- Jacob DeGrom
- Matt Harvey
- Steven Matz
- Zach Wheeler
- Bartolo Colon-Team Mascot?