New York Mets: The 2016 Season in Review

A year after making the World Series, the New York Mets expected to ride their young pitching staff and a rebuilt lineup back to the postseason. They managed to return, but not in the way they expected.

This was to be the New York Mets year. After a relatively surprising run to the World Series in 2015, the Mets had a young core with the added experience of what it takes to go deep into the postseason. After watching the Kansas City Royals celebrate on their home field, one had to imagine that the Mets had a chip on their shoulder.

However, those dreams of returning to the World Series, and taking home the title themselves, did not materialize. The pitching staff was ravaged by injuries and ineffectiveness, as twelve different pitchers started a game for the Mets. Bartolo Colon led the team in starts, and Noah Syndergaard was the only other pitcher to start 30 games.

The injuries and ineffectiveness also manifested on the offensive side. Lucas Duda and David Wright were lost to injury. Michael Conforto, expected to be a key part of the Mets lineup, was sent to the minors. Players like Jose Reyes and James Loney had to be brought in from the scrap heap, in hopes that they could give the Mets something resembling solid production.

And yet, throughout the difficulties, the New York Mets captured one of the Wild Cards. True, they lost to the San Francisco Giants in what was one of the greatest games in recent postseason history, but the fact that they got that far was somewhat surprising.

Let’s take a look back at the Mets 2016 campaign, and see what went right, and what went wrong.